


Valhalla for you Yet

by therisingharvestmoon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-02
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:08:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5133893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therisingharvestmoon/pseuds/therisingharvestmoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thor is sent to Midgard to accompany his wayward brother. However, there is more than sentimental reform to be achieved. Loki's true revelation is to discover intentions are far more powerful than unachievable ends, that there is no destiny other than that of his own choosing. Loki/Darcy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I started writing this in 2012 just after I'd watched Thor for the first time, so it's AU for sure. I'm not sure what else it ignores in the MCU but goes in its own little direction, kinda like Darcy herself... Anyway, enjoy, and if something is unclear I will do my best to rectify that.

Prologue

Two highly out of place men stood arguing at sundown, near a small coffee and pie shop in an equally small town in New Mexico.

Though the journey from New York City had been long (despite Tony's Stark's help in the shape of a jet), they had travelled even further from their own world. A year ago, only a few residents would have recognised the taller, larger man. Now, every single person stared from behind their curtains and venetian blinds. The smells of exhaust fumes and freshly baked sweet potato pie permeated the air. It was apparent to all those listening in this total silence that the argument had been happening for quite some time. Even though anyone with a television knew who Thor and Loki of Asgard were, they were momentarily distracted by the positioning of the figures.

The slighter, dark-haired man looked exceedingly weak. Though his hateful expression was meant to pierce, his large eyes were round, traumatised. He stood defensively with clenched fists, staring up at the man no one could guess was his brother. He was pale and shaking with anger, making the shackle on his wrist tremble.

The deep voice of the handsome, blonde hero permeated the late afternoon. "Loki… Brother, please, can you not listen to me? Must you make things so difficult?"

"I make things difficult, do I, Thor?" This Loki's voice is terribly raspy, bitter and with none of the commanding strength as when it was last heard on Earth. "Father has always favoured you, but this is so much more than that. Do you not see?" There are premature wrinkles around these eyes full of hurt, which tightens as he emphasises these words.

"I do see." He is looking around the streets, thankful that they are empty. "I see that you have not yet realised that you need to atone for your actions, Loki." Thor runs his hand over his rough, dark blonde beard, and watches his brother shudder at the rasping sound.

"My actions?" If his throat had not been so raw from screaming, then yelling at his adoptive brother for hours on end, his voice would still be raised. "While your punishment was to be sent to your beloved Midgård, mine was to hang before that hissing serpent with its toxic, white hot venom burning into my eyes! Is that not proof enough? I have been treated far more severely than you my whole life. And do not think that there is any other reason I am here than because you wished it."

Thor's brow creased. His anger seemed to melt. "Of course I wished it! I wish to help you! Loki… you turned magic and trickery into pure evil, and you turned favouritism into hatred. Do not hate mother and father. Do not hate those here on Earth – people whom you have already slain and injured. But my brother… do not think your actions are beyond repair. Continuing your rampage will not help." Despite the conviction in his tone, Thor was not sure this was possible, and the stress on the son of Odin was because of this insecurity – even if Loki was willing to right his wrongs, his actions were severe.

A crow shrieked and made Loki jump. His eyebrows evened his eyes large. "What do you know?"

Thor closed his eyes briefly. He knew Loki would not run.

At first he had tried, and the wrist band Odin had placed on Loki's wrist had shocked him with more power than the human 'Taser' and his own lightning put together. He hated seeing his brother totally helpless, laying on the tar at the airport on his back, his face bleeding from skidding across the rough surface, unable to move. It had reminded Thor of kneeling at his father's throne, finally receiving the order.

"Bring him back. Go on son."

It made Thor's heart heavy to hear the indifference in his father's voice, and wanted to bring him comfort after such horror. His body was frail and light when Thor cut the vines and lifted his brother down. Loki's terribly burned eyes sealed over, healing. His ice cold skin and bloody red eyes made him look more alien to Thor than he had ever been. The green irises sheened over, but it took days before any recognition entered them.

Thor opened his eyes.

"I know you see me as an oaf, and I respect your intelligence. But please brother… please trust that I know that more evil will only prove your suspicions right. If you can repent, Loki, then you are still the son of Odin, not Laufey." His critical gaze softened when he saw tears in Loki's eyes. "You cry, brother?"

He gulps. "But I am Laufey's son, Thor! You and I both know that Asgardian's are defined by their parentage, and I am Jotun." His hoarse voice fades at the end.

Thor steps forward, and his emotionally drained brother allows his large hand to clap him gently on the shoulder. "You were still loved, still are, Loki. You blame others too much for your own doing. It is only you who can make peace with this world, our own, and yourself. Least not at all with your parents… with me. Look around you, Loki. I may not have your razor wit, brother, but I do have some manner of scheming. Here on Earth, parentage is of little consequence to these people. One's efforts make one who they are, and there are many places where love may be found. I see your tears – I did not bring you here for your own guilt at what you have done, I can see that you know this already. But it must be affirmed. You must know it is wrong. But you must also know there is hope for you, and it may start here." He straightens his shoulders, ready to go on. "I am weary, Loki, and it is all I can give."

The onlookers watch, as the conversation seems to have become less violent, but no less intense. Thor steps away from his brother Loki, who is staring at him levelly. They seemed to be linked by an invisible bond, and the more bright people in this audience wonder if this has something to do with the thick strap on the latter's wasted wrist, which looks akin to a police shock bracelet.

But there is more than this.

He follows his brother in step, carries his shoulders with the same regal posture. One wears red and brown leather, the other entirely in black, both carrying identical leather packs. They both look spectacularly powerful and both are spectacularly out of place. They are both so entirely consumed with each other, they do not notice a second crow flap down next to the first to perch on the small window box on the apartment above the coffee shop. They watch with an intensely critical, intensely human eye as the brothers make their way down one side of a dusty dirt road, inextricably linked, toward some unknown location of safe harbour.

The sun's red glow is the same, yet casts warmth off of Thor and seems to be an ominous aura around his brother. While one basks in the force from which life and growth come from, the other shrinks away, a dark specimen, like a forgotten indoor plant, and one would wonder if there could ever be a place for him in a world of light.

Neither notice as the crows ruffle their feathers, and explode in a silent flash of blue light.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

\--

The population of Puente Antiguo, whom were almost exclusively discussing this unexpectedly public argument, were devising evacuation plans should Thor's meglomanical brother figure out an escape from his bonds. There was a growing concern as the night wore on for the town and particularly, for Jane Foster. Not even a few weeks after returning from her highly paid, sudden research trip coinciding with the Manhattan disaster did they come back. Among those effected by Loki's tirade (Eric Selvig included) were those more privy to certain information, and they were especially worried at the lack of response from S.H.I.E.L.D. Those who knew nothing knew this guy had escaped an inescapable hold in the S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier, and had been brought back to the place he believed should be enslaved.

Though the worries in dimly lit houses grew increasingly, the night time sounds were peacefully quiet. Crickets thrummed loudly in the still-warm desert night, sparks from the fire outside crackled and flared gently, the steady breathing of the sleeping Asgardian and the occasional pause of typing keys replaced by click of an iPhone camera.

Eric was not pleased to see Thor, let alone his destructive, criminal brother. After some tense, one-sided arguing, he had stormed outside, and was still by the steel drum with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, his sombre face lit by the warm glow. Thor's reassurances had made Eric roll his eyes with his entire body.

Loki had not said a single word, which was both disturbing and a comfort. Though his words in the setting sun had been strangely open, the elder brother had expected more complaining. A silent tongue from Loki meant devising in his head, so Thor played the game. He walked directly to the door of Jane Foster's laboratory and knocked, ready to handle what had gone far beyond mere mischief from his brother. Thor, though not a fool, was bound in a simple way to the traditions of Asgard, as Loki was tortured by them. He would forever think of the latter as his brother. As Thor had explained the reasons for his presence and the events since they were separated, the younger yet somehow worn Loki had simply stared at the floor with his deadpan gaze.

"May we stay with you? Or are you still unaccustomed to guests?"

Jane bit her lip, briefly gazing at Loki, who did not look up. Despite her affection for Thor, she knew how dangerous this nut-case was. And yet, Thor had sent her away to save her life. "Yes."

Thor held his coffee mug tightly in both hands, starring out from its rim across the small table in the lab. "It is truthfully good to be back here and see you, Jane Foster."

Jane flopped down on her chair, still overjoyed and somewhat stunned with her own cup. "Now, considering how we parted, I don't think there's any need for this "Jane Foster" stuff, do you?" She grinned; she had missed him so much.

He smiled back, but his clear blue eyes were still troubled. "Jane. I thank you for agreeing to house Loki and I. I understand it is a lot to ask of you… Though it seems Darcy is fascinated by him." He tried to grin at this last bit, but Jane's hazel eyes darkened.

"That reminds me – Darcy!" She said in a harsh whisper.

Darcy, who was meant to be sitting at a nearby desk typing up a lab report, was leaning over the sleeping form of Loki on the couch below the glass windows. The typing had stopped for some time. She quickly pocketed her phone. "Sorry."

She scuttled back to her work, pulling another piece of paper in front of her eyes, typing a few words here and there, distracted.

Loki had refused to sleep in Asgard since finding out his punishment (in some ways worse for him than snake venom burning out his eye sockets), and as Thor could see his serpent-like tongue longing to make snide remarks about the mortals living quarters, he had used his father's power to put Loki into a deep sleep. Though Thor had his and his father's powers to keep his wayward brother at bay, there was still the risk of him using his razor sharp mind and large, round eyes on someone especially trusting. Someone like Darcy.

"He's dangerous." Jane's eyes went to Thor momentarily. "Right?"

Thor swallowed his mouthful of coffee, still smiling. "Well, not right at the moment." Without breaking eye contact, he leaned down, putting Mjölnir on the table just as Jane opened her mouth to protest. With a huge crack, the impossibly heavy hammer split the table in half, sending shards of wood splinters flying into the air. The resounding crash caused both the women to scream and Thor spun around so fast his profile was a blur. He bent down over his sleeping brother.

"The magic is sound. He will sleep for as long as I wish him to. Do not fret." Incredibly, he was still smiling.

Jane put her hand to her chest in relief, exhaling her held breath. "Jesus... Thor!"

His eyebrows creased. "I believe you are mistaking me for another."

She couldn't help but grin, then jumped as the sliding glass door was flung open with a loud clunk.

"Jane, are you all right?" Eric panted from doorway. He glared down at Loki for a long time, then at Thor.

"I'm fine," she smiled at Thor, then looked at her furious colleague. "No, really Eric, it's fine, I'm just down one table."

Thor frowned. "I shall use my monetary loan from dear Tony Stark to buy you a new table. A better table. A table worthy of - "

Eric grabbed his laptop from one of the desks and sidled around the shards of furniture.

"You listen Thor, I like you, but your mangled-brained brother used me to hurt a lot more people. I think you're being blinded by your intentions, and no matter what, you're gonna have to be the one to take responsibility if anything happens to anyone you care about, whether you manage to reform him," he jerked his thumb over toward the sofa, "or if you don't. I'll see you tomorrow evening for our storm charting, Jane."

Jane sighed. "Eric..."

The door closed gently, and they listened in silence as his boots crunched in the gravel, the ignition of his car started and his headlights bounded off of the glass as he drew a sharp circle and drove home.

Jane watched as Thor lifted his hammer from the pile of wood, and dragged each piece outside to be put into the drum fire. He returned, dusting his hands. She smiled slightly. "Do you want another coffee?"

"I would always love another coffee with you, Jane."

A gentle rumbling added to the melody of noises as the electric jug boiled their water.

"I'm sorry he said that," Jane said, stretching to get the sugar for Darcy's drink from a high cupboard. Thor gently opened it for her, letting her reach up and grab the sweetener.

"Do not be. He is right. It is my responsibility - and he will learn to be his own. No one will get hurt before me, including my brother. You believe me?"

Jane smiled. "You know so much about planets and dimensions and magic and science, and I trust that you know that much about people, too."

"That warms my heart to hear you say."

He smiled, gently cupping her face in his large hand. His eyes were so blue, like a clear sky on a cold winter morning. She closed her eyes, ready for the kiss, briefly wondering what a moment what Asgardian winters were like, making a mental note to ask him, if she remembered...

There was a breeze from the force in which Thor literally flew across the room, grabbing Darcy and hauling her backward.

Jane's eyes flew open. Loki was sitting, eye's open, looking amusedly at his brother, who had the small intern on his chest in a heap.

"Darcy? What the HELL was that?" Jane looked from Loki, to Thor, back to Loki, then Darcy.

"I'm sorry." Darcy's eyes were filled with tears. "I just wondered what it was."

Thor looked up at Jane, gently lifting Darcy to her feet. "Loki's bracelet. It will shock another who touches it with ten thousand... I believe you call them... volts of electricity?"

Jane's eyes widened. "But why would she want to touch it?" She turned to Darcy, furious. "Why would you go close to him?"

Darcy's full lower lip was trembling. "I just, I wanted to see what it was. Isn't that..." She looked at Thor, whose anger was not directed at her. "Isn't that cruel?"

"Darcy!" Jane snapped, her hands on her hips. "This is not the time to feel sorry for mass murderers like they're a lost puppy. Weren't you here when Thor explained all this?"

She held her iPhone in one hand, and wiped her nose with her other sleeve. "No."

"But don't you have enough common sense?" Jane ran her fingers through her hair, agitated.

Thor grabbed Loki by the shoulder, forcing him to stand. "Did your mind trickery play a part in this, Loki?"

Loki's new serene smile stayed in place. "Why brother, of course I didn't. Not that denial has ever served me well..." 

"It's true." 

Thor turned to raise his eyebrow at Darcy. Loki's gaze fell from his brother to her. She looked at the floor. "I mean, it was all me. He was sleeping. I just wanted to see what it was, is all..."

Jane was furiously piling Darcy's whole stack of papers into a plastic crate, shutting her laptop lid and placing it on top.

"There. I think you've done enough here for tonight, finish the rest of this at home. And don't screw up again, or look for a placement somewhere else."

Darcy's eye's were still watery, though she hadn't cried yet. "But... I hadn't saved what I was typing."

"Oh, don't worry, I think Facebook conversations stay there."

"But I was writing up the - "

"Darcy." Jane's eyes were glazed with anger. "Go home. Now. If you need help, ask one of the Asgardians here to carry the damn box." She pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing through it. "I won't be mad at you in the morning, Darcy just... We've got a lot to sort out here, could you just leave?"

Darcy bit her lip, stepping past Loki and Thor, heaving the box up to hip-height with quite some difficulty, then with a swaying gate, balancing the box on her knees, until she ran into the glass doors, dropping it. She sobbed muffledly, but did not turn around. With the same serene smile on his lips, Loki's thin cruel face was transformed as he opened the door for her, lifting the box with one hand and holding it out to her without a word. Darcy wisely chose to take her heavy work load without even a proper glance in his eyes, the fresh graze along one side of his face making her uncomfortable. Only when she had scuttled awkwardly to her car did she wonder if he'd been able to see her watching him earlier, because she remembered something about the Odinsleep not being really asleep. Across the lot, she could see through the windows. Jane was talking to Thor, heatedly, probably assuring him her dunderhead assistant wouldn't be bothering them if she could help it. She's probably send her an apology text later, too. That was Jane. Darcy knew she had to look tough, especially considering her possible position with SHIELD. She quickly unlocked the trunk of her tiny Hyundai and piled her work in, hoping Space Boy and his Evil Brother weren't watching. It was embarrassing, how sensitive she felt, how hurt she'd been to be reprimanded, even though she'd thoroughly deserved it.

Darcy dropped the trunk heavily, and jumped.

Loki stood, watching her from the other side of the glass. Darcy held opened the driver's side door, starring back. Loki cocked his head to the side. Darcy glared at him. He looked over his shoulder. Thor had his hand on Jane's shoulder: they were clearly having A Moment. Loki turned back to her, shrugging, looking innocent. She slid into her seat, buckling her seatbelt. Deepening the glare, she mouthed "what? This is YOUR fault", pointing for emphasis. He cocked his head to the side, as though trying to identify a spore of fungus on a dungeon wall. Then he laughed at her. She started the engine of her old car, not looking directly at him but trying not to crash in to anything at the same time. When she looked up before pulling out of the drive, he was starring out at a tree near the fence, his smile gone. She saw two ravens, and remembered something else about the mythology - Odin was keeping an eye on them.

Before he could look at her again, Darcy jammed the car into drive and flicked pebbles across the asphalt, just wanting to be away from the mocking, and her own feeling of uselessness. 

\-- 

Thor's precious Jane had offered him a bed and a meal, and their talk began to bore Loki. Was this the torture, then? The lesson? Was he to learn of the Midguardian love through his brother and his rather unremarkable lover? He circled the room slowly, being careful not to come too close to any document or device, less Thor's supposed love snatch any of it away. While they talked of arrangements and other minutia, Loki felt the flat, square plastic under his black tunic and robe. The identification card of Darcy Lewis. Though he was constantly thinking of a way to escape his bonds, return to Asgard or indeed escape into Midgard would soon mean death, and that Loki did not want. But though he had not yet devised a way for release (which he would, regardless of his brother's wishes for him to do so called 'good'), Loki amused himself by troubling Thor and especially his precious Jane. He really had no quarrel with either or them, or the girl, but the girl meant that his simple brother would be in distress over his ambiguous intentions, and for Loki, that was where the fun lay. At the moment, there was nothing else.

Loki stopped pacing. He had been revived from the enforced sleep, a fact admitted only to himself. But without warning he felt drained, and overly hot. He looked down at his fingertips, which were horrifyingly and unexpectedly blue. Unexpectedly Jotun. Holding his own arm, he stepped to the window, unable to see far in the inky blackness of the Earth night. No ravens, and no torch-wielding villagers. At least for the time being.

"Huginn and Muninn have gone."

He jumped and turned to glare at Thor, at his shoulder.

"I know that, you oaf!"

Thor wondered why Loki had broken his silence, and saw his hand clutching his wrist. "What is wrong?" He turned momentarily, was satisfied to hear Jane was still in her shower, then back to Loki, looking concerned.

"There is nothing wrong!" Loki snapped again. "You know, aside from my crimes. And my punishment." He scoffed, but it was fear Thor saw in his brother's eyes, not the usual slick humour. "And my parentage, as is the usual. Go away, go to your wench. I'm doing nothing wrong."

Loki closed his eyes, and with effort the skin on his arms turned warm, to the colour of cream.

Thor's low rumble cut through his concentration, and his panic. "Loki?"

"Shh, Thor," Loki chided, half-heartedly. He opened his eyes, still their usual green. "I don't know what that was, okay? It has nothing to do with me."

"Your skin..." Thor began. "Brother, do you think the Frost Giants-?"

"No." Loki cut in. "No, the portal hasn't been opened, we would feel it. Perhaps there is an artefact close-by? I do not know... I don't need this..." He was half speaking to himself. He pulled his black sleeve down over his hand, and looked back up at Thor, fear replaced by amusement in his eyes. "Well, seeing as they don't trust me, and they certainly don't believe me, I suppose this is your burden, not mine."

Thor shook his head. "I don't understand." 

"You will be the one needing to convince your precious SHIELD and Avengers - pssh, that this is not my doing."

Thor misliked the words, but noted that they were spoken with relief, not venom. He frowned. "This is troubling, Loki." He looked as though he was going to reach for his brother's shoulder, then thought better of it.

Loki's eyes burned into him, and Thor felt he couldn't look at those spider-web scars around the green eyes. "Hm. You appeared concerned for a moment there, brother." The water in the bathroom stopped running, and he lowered his voice. "Even if I were to, as you say, atone and join you, who would want me?" They heard footsteps in the hall, and Loki's voice returned to normal. "I'm going to see if I can't find something to read in this dump. Don't worry, I won't be far, you can check to see if I'm blue in an hour or so. Goodnight." 

Loki whirled to leave, and stopped mid-stride by Jane, staring up at him from under a turbaned towel. Another cotton sheet was wrapped around her small frame. He could see the appeal, especially when a few strands of brown hair fell from the towel as she pointed at him.

"You don't touch anything with my name on it, understand me? You don't run into me on your way to the bathroom or something at night, all right? You know you're sleeping on the floor of the guest room, right?"

He leaned down toward her, barely blinking. "I will abide by the rules set by my hostess, naturally." His tone grew darker, more waspish. "I have endured enough pain and been brought to this disgusting place, do I really need to create more torment for myself, hmm?"

Thor grinned, though Jane was sure his excitement was premature. She could never tell if Loki was serious. 

"Excellent then, brother, you will then try?"

"Do not mistake my apathy for effort, you dim, dim creature," he said, but his voice and slight smiled had returned. Jane opened her mouth, but thought better of it and he swept past her out of the room. 

She sank heavily onto the couch, and Thor wrapped his arm around her gently, as to not crush her.

"I guess its a good thing, if he means it. But I still can't trust him, you know that. Just in case its all a trick."

Thor sighed, lightly kissing the top of her head.

"That is very wise. Knowing Loki, it is both." He pulled her in close. "He too has had good intentions but taken the wrong course of action. Perhaps it is true, and this is the wrong thing to do. But I must not give up, if I can still save a seat at Valhalla for my Loki. But how do I know that my ways are right, are better than his?"

She felt strangely tender as he drew he close and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. She had missed him terribly, but their closeness had also come at a terrible price. But that which stabbed at her heart and held it open like an animal being dissected, was his words - 'my Loki'. She leaned forward and Thor's arms dropped to his side. Her eyes were fixed to the coffee table. "I guess you start by not hurting people. Aw, geez, I'm gonna have to apologize to Darcy tomorrow." Jane smiled. "Don't worry, Thor, your heart is in the right place, and you have empathy. You just have to teach him that second bit so he can get the first one right."

A smile of contentment spread across Thor's face, for she always knew just what to say. Though he was rather startled when she suddenly shrieked to the upstairs guest room -

"STAY AWAY FROM MY JANE AUSTEN COLLECTION!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

The morning sunlight glittered in the clear, blue sky, but a storm could form from the tiny wisps of white clouds into a loud, bright and dangerous thunderhead in a small number of hours out here. The morning weather was pleasant. Thor ate toast with Jane in silence over the sink (they would drive to the expensive, small-town furniture store later in the day), and Loki declined any food, preferring to read instead. He had not slept, finishing a language terminology guide and beginning a thick volume on medical science in the morning sun. He sat, cross-legged, taking advantage of the natural light, sitting as many paces away from his brother as he could without being electrocuted.

"He won't deign to speak to us unless absolutely necessary." Thor commented, scrolling through recent news on Jane's iPad. Well, more exactly it was her old iPad. He had not quite grasped the concept of a gentle touch, putting his hand through the first one trying to 'align the misplaced confections' playing Candy Crush. He took a bite of jam toast, swallowing it whole. "There is nothing of interest – no strange weather, no archaeology exhibits, nothing connecting Jotunheim to Earth."

Jane cleared her throat, looking away. "Almost nothing."

Thor brushed the crumbs from his short, trimmed beard. "Mmm?"

"Loki."

Thor looked around, sure that his brother was still outside in the sun, otherwise occupied with his reading material. "I know you think I am naive, dear Jane. But I believe this is something which has befallen Loki. Not caused by him."

She sighed. "I know, I know. But you know what?"

She had taken a step closer to him. He smiled. "Oh?"

"I think we should just leave him in peace, you know? For say, an hour?"

He took her meaning, scooping her up, eliciting a surprised yelp. He grinned. "How about two?"

\--

Balancing a take out coffee in a paper tray held in her teeth, her laptop under one arm, and a small, wheeled luggage trolley being dragged by the other hand, Darcy only had her rear with which to shut the door. Determined to stay awake to do today's work after staying up all night doing her sociology assignment and yesterday's work, she looked up, taking small, awkward steps toward the glass doors.

Jane held her folded arms, looking at her feet in an unusually shy manner. "Darcy - you've got everything?"

"Mmm hmm!"

The wet cardboard in her mouth finally gave. Thankfully, the hot coffee missed her mountain of wasted trees, but the cup upended all over her jeans. Jane grabbed her laptop as Darcy's hands went to her legs. "Ow, ow, ahhh. Oh, crap! I'm sorry, Jane."

Jane hid her smile well. "It's all right. Hey. I shouldn't have snapped yesterday. I think you should change your pants inside and we can file that stuff away later. We've got a few locations to cover around here before we head into town."

Darcy sniffed, setting the carry case on the ground next to her desk, thinking about it, then pushing it further under, just in case.

Thor's boots crunched against the gravel.

"You look ridiculous, brother." Loki sniped, without looking up from his reading.

Thor looked down, complacently. "Am I not appropriately attired for a Midgardian civilian?"

Loki blinked unimpressedly, and stared at his white-t-shirt, blue-jeaned sibling. "That is not what I said."

Thor grinned, crouching down.

"Perhaps you will consider changing from your imperial leathers soon enough, Loki. The climate is quite arid here."

Loki rolled his eyes, shutting the book and turning his head to Thor.

"What do you want?"

"My intention is to go to with Jane on her brief expedition. Not only will you have to come, but I think your presence wise, considering the way your arm took on an iciness which - "

"So, I have no choice in the matter?" Loki interrupted, holding his cuffed wrist up to his eyes. "And I would prefer you to keep your words to yourself." He stood in one swift move, brushing himself off irritably. Thor knew Jane and Darcy's eyes were on them, and he got the strangest feeling that was why Loki seemed so brusque. Was he embarrassed? "Don't think I do not know what you're doing." Loki whispered, calmly. "If I am to learn of Midgard and those who inhabit it, it will be from these texts, it will be observation, with their inferior status in mind, and it will not be some kind of forced kinder-age interaction."

Thor stared back evenly. "All right. If that is what you wish. But be sure that you'll still have to keep up with me, brother." A sincere smile curled on his lips. "Your face seems to be healing nicely."

Loki opened his mouth to retort, but a suddenly clunk made them turn to the building. Darcy stumbled back from the glass door, holding her head in one hand. She was thankfully only carrying a single bag with her laptop encased. Her face was flaming as she slid the door open and shut, hurriedly turning her back on the Asgardian brothers to lock up shop. Jane stuck her head out of the van.

"Are you okay? Darcy?"

She held one hand to her eyes, avoiding both the sun and demi-gods staring at her. Her fumbling had interrupted one of their Serious Moments; she was so embarrassed. Again. "Oh yeah, its like all my clumsy decided to come together in a cluster today, it's fine." Darcy mumbled, stuffing her belongings into the back seat. "I think what with my track record so far, you should drive?"

Jane looked up to catch Thor's eye. He smiled. She smiled back. "Good idea. You can hop in the back with Sparky, there. Eric isn't coming, he'll be back tomorrow," she added more quietly. "When you guys are out."

Darcy barely heard the add on. She looked at Loki and gulped, remembering the day before. His eyes slid from his brother to her as soon as she looked up, and a furious blush spread across her face as she scrambled into the van, trying to avoid his eye again. She watched Loki's face become as dark as the thunderclouds looming over them when Thor explained that he was Sparky.

Jane directly addressed Darcy as the brothers approached the van. "You need to just keep checking that everything's working. It'll take down any readings if some other weird atmospheric disturbances do happen, but I just need to make sure that it wasn't a glitch. I mean... it could have something to do with Bifrost opening."

She kept her eyes on the monitors of the machines as Thor slid the door open for his brother. "Yep, sure. That really was something, wasn't it?"

"You saw it too?" Jane sounded a tad disturbed, as if she hoped it was some sort of illusion.

The front door clicked and screeched open. Thor's immense bulk shifted the weight. He laughed. "Is this dent here from where you hit my temple, Darcy Lewis?"

Jane grinned at Thor. Darcy sunk as low as she possibly could, red again. Loki raised an eyebrow, shuffling into the back seat, sitting straight-backed and as far away from his fellow passenger as possible. Jane grinned.

Darcy mumbled, "No, that was the other side and the back, that's just general wear and tear."

Thor and Jane laughed, Loki looked perplexed. 

Darcy cleared her throat, still having not looked at Loki. For the supposed God of Mischief, he didn't look very amused. She just hoped he didn't conjure any giant ants. She hated ants, but the thought of him riding an ant like in Honey I Shrunk the Kids made her laugh out loud, and blush even more.

Jane stared at her with a raised eyebrow in the rear view mirror as she started the engine. "What?"

Darcy cleared her throat, trying not to giggle. "Nothing, uh... no, nothing." She was very aware that she was still being stared at my Doctor Gloom. "Erm, Jane?" She trying to sound more casual than nervous. "How far are we going?"

"Forty minutes out, then looping back 'round."

"Ah. Okay cool."

They drove. Darcy tried to look down as much as possible and not make herself motion sick. There was only so many times she could check the electronics and flick through her iPhone. She stole a sideways glance at Loki, and found he was staring at her still. She jumped, startled.

"I have managed to remove the images you captured yesterday eve." He said, flatly.

She had no idea how to make small talk, and now had no idea if she could speak she was so embarrassed. Thor and Jane's loud conversation about the Avengers in the silence which followed did not help the tension.

"Oh, I... Um... Oh. Sorry. Um, that's fine."

The corner of his thin mouth curled up slightly, and in that tiny motion Darcy knew he was thinking she was close to being an incoherent invalid.

"Your apology is unnecessary, however appropriate. It is wrong to use someone's image without their permission."

Darcy cringed, remembering all those college PSA's. "Yeah, I know."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "You know now?"

"Um, sure." This guy had a bigger ego than her high school math teacher. Yes sir, I understand, and all that.

"I wish to learn what I can from these volumes," Loki turned away from Darcy. "If I can hear through this inane babble," he added acidly as Thor guffawed loudly.

Darcy took off her hat and glasses as they turned onto a bumpier section of road. So basically, don't talk to me? "Understood." The slight tinge of sarcasm colouring her single word reply did not seem to be noticed by Loki.

A roadwork and fifty five minutes later, they arrived at the gorge. They would take their readings from here and even ten miles until they reached Puerto Antiguo's limits again, placing an electrical activity recorder in each place to be collected the next week. Darcy stepped out into the hot, windy desert as soon as they stopped the van. The beeping of the equipment seemed to bother Loki, so he sat on a rock close to the look out, while Thor appropriately hammered the pegs into the hard ground for the readers to be attached. Darcy and Jane carefully wired three recorders to three stakes, just in case any were damaged in the wild weather. They went back to the van, and Thor looked down over the railings of the gorge. "Be careful not to fall, Loki! I can imagine it would be a bit of a shock."

Loki stared at his brother flatly, regretting teaching him of Midgardian puns. 

\--

Jane enjoyed Thor's company and wanted to get this done, as she had expected, the sky was darkening as the day wore on. They stopped to eat cheese sandwiches and have water, which Loki once again refused, this time silently. Despite his heavy leather tunic and pants, Loki was the only one not to be effected by the heat. Thor was down to his white t shirt, Jane in her own of blue, and Darcy's only covering was a thin, black tank top by the afternoon. She panted, heaving herself up to the van after wiring the last device. She slumped against its side, next to Loki, but keeping her distance.

"Aren't you... hot?" She gasped.

His eyes flickered up briefly. "No, not that it is of any consequence to you."

"Oh, okay. I just thought it might feel hotter, because of how you're..."

The arm holding his book had become slack, and he turned to face her, his eyes boring into her.

"... a Frost... Um." She smiled. "Giant?"

He was staring at her and her smile faltered, failed. "It is the other way around, actually," Loki hissed. "And I am small for my kind." Thor and Jane looked up from Jane's iPad briefly. He lowered his voice to barely a whisper. "Stop babbling and leave me be."

Darcy was both slightly offended and hugely scared. "I was just curious. That's all. I thought you might want to just talk."

A line appeared between his severe eyebrows. "You think you know me? Perhaps you do - through what you've read. And that is how I want to know Midgard, do you hear? All of you? I want objective facts, if I am forced to be here!" He glared at Thor, then turned his venomous gaze back to Darcy. "Have thou had hardships? Good! I do not care But I do not want to share my own, I do not wish for understanding or a false pretence of trust!"

She had shrunk at the unexpected overreaction, realising how close and how tall he was. After a few seconds, she found her voice. "N-no, I just thought I'd make conversation about the weather. Nothing really too deep and meaningful about that."

He was breathing hard after his rant. Five seconds passed. "Oh."

Darcy dusted off her hands, opening the back of the van for him. "And I might understand, but I definitely don't trust you. I didn't mean to bring up the Frost Giant thing, okay?" She did a very good job of mimicking his deadly expression. "Thou art an incredibly huge jackass, you know that?"

Jane rolled her eyes, giving Darcy a friendly shove. "Get in."

Dogs barked as the night crept in, the black sky increasingly devoid of stars. The heat of the day had slipped away, but it was more than that. Darcy, Jane and even Thor were rugged up in their jackets and layers, all but Loki, who hadn't spoken the entire drive back. As they walked through the doors of the lab, tired and dusty, Loki shivered. While Jane and Darcy unloaded the van and transferred the data to their computers, Thor put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Loki looked at him, not shrugging it off.

"Brother... I do not wish to force anything on you, but... You must sleep and eat."

He seemed far away, distracted. "Not force anything on me? Apart from this entire ordeal?"

"Loki," Thor said sternly. "It is not an ordeal unless you make it into one."

"Oh really?" He was swaying a little now. Overheated, starving and thirsty, Thor was sure.

"I will say, Loki, that you can help rebuild as much or more than you've destroyed here."

He raised his eyebrows. "I do not see how. They wish me dead."

Thor turned briefly, to look at Jane and Darcy shutting the back of the van.

"Not all of them. They are not all the same. Do you know what that means?"

He signed, and shivered again. "Enlighten me?"

"They will judge you of what you make of yourself."

Loki took a step closer to Thor's face, as the womens' voices drew closer.

"And what if I wish to be damned? What if the guilt is too much? If I have nowhere to start?"

Thor lowered his voice even further. "Start with friendship, Loki."

Loki scoffed, but had nothing else to say as the screen door slid open.

"Woah, its getting kind of chilly tonight - Darcy, could you help me turn the heaters on?" Jane flicked on the lights.

"Sure."

The low rumbling of the reverse air con started. Jane flicked the jug switch to make coffee, and slumped into one of the couches.

"Looks like table shopping will have to wait for tomorrow."

"Ahh," Thor said, looking from Jane to Loki, was was steadily sliding toward the heating. "But there is plenty of time to explore all of Midgard's beautiful wonders, is there not?"

Jane smiled. "Uh, I don't think I'd call 'Al's Furniture' a beautiful wonder, but uh, sure."

Darcy came over and sat next to Jane, rubbing her arms. "Sure is getting cold though. How's your brother taking it, Thor?"

"If you wish to address me, you may do so directly." Loki stated.

Darcy slowly turned. "Oh really?"

He stared at his brother over her shoulder, unsure. "I... apologise?" Thor nodded. "It was rude of me to snap."

Darcy blinked, blushing once again. "Oh, well... that's okay, I guess. So is it okay for me to talk about the weather now, then?"

This time, he smirked slightly at the sarcasm in her voice. "It suppose it is."

She turned to the room in general. "It's going to storm for sure."

Jane nodded, passing Darcy her laptop. "I'd record the time, because I bet you its the same as last night, if there are any unexpected flashes. Actually... Thor?"

"Yes?" He was pouring boiling water into four mugs at the sink.

"Could it be an after effect of the Bifrost being opened again? I know it didn't happen last time, but is it possible?"

He brought the girls their mugs. "I am certain that it could be. Brother, do you know anything relevant to this conundrum Miss Foster and Miss Lewis have?"

Loki opened his mouth to respond, and cringed, as if in pain. He put his hands over his face, taking a few steps back. When Thor rushed to him, taking his arms away, they saw all his skin was blue and marked, his watering eyes red.

"Loki? LOKI?"

A huge flash of lightning tore across the sky, so bright it looked like day time. Jane and Darcy left Loki to Thor, running outside to look at the sky. They made it just in time to see the white portal close in streaks of blue lightning. The night was warm again, and a warm glow on the distant horizon made Jane take a step back in horror. "I think something else just landed here." She looked at Darcy. "I just hope Thor's familiar with whatever it is."

Darcy bit her lip."Wasn't the Bifrost closed to Thor until he could rehabilitate Loki?"

"I thought so too."

"So there's no way we can find out if its a friend or... or not, unless we go find out what this is?"

Jane nodded.

"Lets go back inside?"

They rushed over to Loki, who was once again slumped on Jane's couch. His skin was slowly fading to normal, and he refused to look at any of them with his red eyes.

"Brother? Please speak, are you hurt? Loki?"

"No."

"What then - ?"

"Cold, its so cold in here, can you make it warmer?"

Thor looked up at Jane, who leaned over to the wall and turned the thermostat on the air con as high as it could go. Its fan started up again, a pleasant hum in the resounding silence of the huge crash of thunder. They were all tense, looking at Loki. They had shed all their layers now, but still he shivered.

Darcy looked up from her laptop, which she had scanned for answers. "Um, guys?"

They all looked at her, and she paused momentarily when Loki's gaze fell on her.

"The electrical charges the recorders picked up were the strongest when... we were there with them. That kinda sounds like... one of you... was causing it."

They all slowly turned to Loki. He felt his own hands, slowly folding them over one another, trying to warm up. "I think... they are here. Thor."

"Who? Who are here?"

He looked up slowly, his eyes back to their normal, blue hue. "The Jotun."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"I cannot conceive in my mind another reason for such an uncontrolled change of matter. Perhaps in my other ventures to Jotunheim, it was my belief to be Odin's son, to be born of Asgard, which determined my appearance. Perhaps without that certainty I could not help…?" Loki lifted his head from his hand, taking the blanket Darcy dropped in his arms. "There is no other reasoning for it… I hardly think it wise for them to have ventured out like that. I cannot be blamed for the events which unfurl."

Darcy sat on the couch opposite and scratched her head. She sat her tea on the small coffee table, but did not drink it. "No one's going to blame you for anything."

His eyes were far off. "Your certainty is reflexive of a naïve mind."

She sighed. "Right. So, what would you do then? Go out there and follow them? Go out there and make them come back?"

"My brother and his consort will do as they wish." Loki sniffed, lifting the tartan blanket. "And free will aside, I believe they see me as a danger. Firstly, my true intentions are as protected as my heart…" His eyes narrowed. "You stare as though I have nought." Darcy bit her lip, playing with her hands awkwardly. "They do not know that I am not involved in whatever breach has occurred, intentional or no. Secondly, and more importantly, I cannot say in all certainty that I know what effect they will have on me."

Shifting uncomfortably and checking out the window again, Darcy murmured, "I don't think I follow, what do you mean?"

Loki closed his mouth, swallowed and focused his gaze. "I am... I... am... unsure." He frowned. "There is simply a possibility of the Frost Giants finding me, or using me... for... what I do not know." He turned his hands over, inspecting both sides.

Glad that she could be in the room without him insulting her intelligence, Darcy sipped her lukewarm tea. "But, it's more likely that... you know, it's just an accident, right?"

He rubbed his index finger against the pad of his thumb, and she realised how charismatic he was, in this space to between good and bad. Maybe not neither, grey like the tabletop his eyes were fixed on, but an inseparable mix of both. Ink and oil in water. Darcy blinked, realised he was half way through answering her. "...make sure that it isn't, and yet... I still see myself as a cowering weakling, hiding down here while they watch and wait..."

"That's not being a coward though."

"It is not?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, no no no no no. No." She stalled for the right words. "No... better you stay here than turn into a giant, lemony popsicle, am I right?"

His eyes narrowed, not menacingly. "I... do not know."

So much for saying something intelligent, she scolded herself. "It's just... when I read The Prose Edda, I just thought of Thor as a kind of, beef jerky kind of guy, but you'd be sort of a lemon-lime pop kind of guy... " Darcy had almost added 'if you know what I mean', then realised her explanation was even more dense-sounding. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, wishing her brain had spell check.

"I... see." He muttered unconvincingly. "Tell me more of this Prose Edda if you will, on the morrow. I must rest now. I feel drained."

"Oh, well, good. Of course. If you need anything... like a cold cup of tea..." She looked down at her own mug. "Uh, goodnight then."

He gave her a smile not so enthusiastic that it lost its reassuring quality, bowed slightly and went round the corner to the room where he and that brainless muscle of a brother were supposedly sharing. In a small flash of yellow light which she would no doubt take as him turning the lighting system on, the copy disappeared from existence. The real Loki smiled at his handwork, glad to be so cleverly deceiving, and glad to do it without more red on his sleight.

Ducking down from the window, he watched as she returned to her place on the sofa quietly, as if not wanting to disturb who she thought was him trying to get rest. No rest for the wicked, he had heard the humans say. He believed it, too. He slipped along the outside wall, in between the cars and out of the gate, running toward his brother and the scientist. He much preferred the dull one in there, with her long winded rambling and overt kindness, making it so easy for him. And yet he felt a finger of guilt brush his conscious when he realised that she, too, would be punished for his escape. But Loki could easily talk them out of that.

From one of the only trees on the barren, desert plain, a whole murder of crows shrieked, flapping up from the trees into the star-dusted sky. Loki cursed and ducked, but after sixty-seconds of crouching, no movement came from Jane Foster's lab. He looked to see if it was his father's feathered watchmen or just the inky black gnarled branches in the dark. He could not tell, so he kept running.

He could not let those monsters here. Indifferent as he was to Midgard, his chances of redeeming his name were growing more and more slim, and he knew he could not try if he was punished again, like that... Loki's pale, long fingers touched his eyelids briefly, and he shuddered. Now, he would get his revenge on the Jotun. He knew deep down that his family loved him. He loved Asgard. And hated as he was, it was his duty to protect the Earth. He wanted his bare hands on those beasts, to help tear them down, for to him, it was that part of him drawn to the Tesseract and look the wrong actions trying to achieve the right ends. Though the heavy wristlet weighed him down, though the thought of Thor's premature anger weighed him down, Loki ran.

\--

"How many of them are there?" Jane whispered her voice so low that it barely made the tiny puff of fog in front of her. The had a strong sense of deja vu as she and Thor crouched down just behind the crest of a hill, overlooking a crater in the ground which had been the site of a S.H.I.E.L.D investigation over Mjolnir over a year ago. Now, it was a far, far more terrifying site, and if they could even escape unnoticed now, they had to contact Nick Fury as soon as they did.

Thor's blue eyes reflected the swirling sky from which the blue-green portal had descended. Lightning still flashed in the sky. They had arrived to see at least half a dozen giant frost-covered Jotun emerge from the tunnel, before it shrank unexpectedly, cutting one despicable warrior in half. The lightning illuminated its frozen, massive corpse as the others groaned, speaking to each other in grunts, obviously deciding if their mission was worth it, whatever that may be.

"There are seven Frost Giants that I can see." Thor murmured back.

Jane frowned, and they crouched down as along bolt of lightning lanced through the sickly green sky. "Well, I trust your eye sight more than mine." She watched as the sky slowly faded to back, stars reappearing. "We'd better get going and put out an alert. We can't just sit here and watch – we need to evacuate the town. I bet most people heard this and freaked… But there are still curious people, no matter the danger. I bet there'll be people coming out here with their camera phones already." She shivered. It was wrong for it to feel so cold here.

"Quickly, then," Thor helped her to her feet and they scrambled down the mild slope away from the invading Jotun, who could wreak massive amounts of destruction, even with their small number. "We must - " He physically stopped, throwing an arm in front of Jane to slow her momentum. She gasped silently, sure that she had been winded. Grasping Mjolnir from his belt, he peered into the pitch dark in front of them. Thor's eyes adjusted from the last lightning flash first, and he saw it.

"JANE!" He roared, swinging the hammer back. "Get down!"

She did as she was told, but instead of the blow striking the creature in its fungus-blue leg, Mjolnir tumbled out of reach as Thor's feet were struck from under him. He looked up at the Jotun, whose cruel face had a momentarily dumb look upon it. After the momentary confusion, it sneered, its stinking breath wafting toward them, and it reached down to turn Thor to ice and smash him against the ground. Jane screamed, but the outreaching hand did not make it to them. In fact, it fell from the rest of the giant's arm, rolling in a mixture of blood and sand down the rest of the hill.

Thor grabbed Jane and stood. The disfigured monster screamed. Whoever their saviour was had alerted the rest of the Jotun to their presence. The handless, frozen beast turned to claw at its attacker, but it fell in pain as its leg was this time assailed. Defenceless, the Jotun's ugly, snarling head was cleaved from its body, and next to his kill stood -

"Loki?" Thor yelled over the roaring of the stamping Jotun.

Jane clambered onto Thor's back. "With my wood-chopping axe?"

Loki smiled smugly. "Of course, I enhanced your puny blade with - "

His voice was cut off by Thor grabbing the neck of his clothes tightly.

"How did you escape?" He shook his brother. "Answer me!"

"Escape? Why, I'm here to help you." He croaked, his throat constricted by his leather tunic. "And may I remind you that you'd be dead if I hadn't - "

There was a huge WHACK as the shovel appeared out of nowhere, hitting Loki in the back of the head. Puny as human garden shed tools were, they packed a wallop when swung at the back of the head unexpectedly. As his dead weight kneeled at Thor's feet, Darcy grinned, pushing her hair away from her face. "Hey, who said he escaped?"

Jane grabbed the front of Darcy's Black Sabbath tee shirt in the same, rough manner. "What the hell are you doing? Do you even think before you knock people out? Dammit!"

As Jane cursed, the Jotun who had reached the top of the hill first shrieked in outrage upon seeing its dead comrade.

"Come!" Thor yelled, reaching for Mjolnir. He belted his weapon, grabbed Loki whom he slung over his shoulders like a long, unconscious cat, and grabbed Jane and Darcy around the waist, jumping into the air.

Jane got her binoculars from her desk as soon as they reached the lab, handing them to Darcy furiously. "You. There. Stay. Watch."

"Okay, okay, but you can't blame me for knocking the guy out, I didn't know there were Frost Giants, and I had to chase after him once he ran through that bunch of crows -"

"DARCY." Jane's hazel eyes glowed dangerously. "Watch!"

"All right, all right." It took her eyes a moment to focus. "Well... they haven't left yet... Actually, it looks like they've started a fire, I hope they don't melt." She snorted at her own joke, and looked around. Only Loki lay on the ground next to the window, mouth open and drooling slightly. "Heh. Oops." Jane was connecting to Skype with S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor waited patiently. She turned the binoculars back to where the Jotun had broken through. Thor explained what they saw, the strangeness of the Jotun staying where they were despite the number of innocent, defenceless humans close by, and Loki's favourable actions. Fury was half way through his skeptical but pleased response when Darcy practically squealed,"OH MY GOD!"

"What is it, Miss Lewis?"

Darcy slowly turned to see the face of S.H.I.E.L.D Director Fury. Oh dammit, now, don't mention the eye patch. "I just saw two of the Frost Giants carry the bodies of the dead two over the fire. I think they're gonna eat them!"

Jane was glaring at Darcy, but her face softened when Thor laughed. "Oh, Darcy, daughter of Patricia and Ian, that is but a common cannibalistic ritual among the Jotun. What puzzles me more," he turned to Director Fury, "is why they stay still, perhaps awaiting rescue? Even though they are simpler in some ways, their sharp minds do no need to recognise your technology to recognise that they have no eliminated any possible threats."

Fury nodded thoughtfully. "I'm sending a unit out now. Local police should be heading out there to create a barrier around the intruders as we speak, before S.H.I.E.L.D agents can get there. Until they do, I'm unsure as to whether or not this is a matter for the Avengers." He paused, his face becoming more relaxed. "Speaking of which, I see you've got your brother nice and in control there, Asgardian."

Thor bowed slightly. "He was no match for Miss Darcy and her Shovel of Power."

Fury's smile was more pronounced, yet, unsettling. "I see. That's good to know, but I'm sure you wouldn't leave Loki JUST in the care of Miss Lewis, would either of you? What if he escaped his shackles, or even if he didn't but still got loose? You couldn't blame Miss Lewis for that. Miss Lewis!" Fury barked suddenly.

"Yes, Director Fury?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D will be there within the hour. You and the cops will be keeping an eye until then. ALL of you. You understand." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, Director Fury." Jane nodded.

"Yes, indeed." Thor watched the screen intently.

"Sir, yes," Darcy bowed slightly. "We'll keep you patched in, sir!"

She turned around, furiously red and biting her lip so she didn't burst out crying at the realisation of what she'd said. They bade their goodbyes, ending the call.

Thankfully, when one Jotun ripped the leg off of his cooked brethren, Jane took the moment to say, "Miss Darcy and her Shovel of Power?"

They all laughed.

From the ground, a groan, as Loki slowly awoke, feeling the back of his head gingerly and dragging himself up on his elbow.

"Oh, yeah," Darcy untangled the binocular cord from the tresses of her long, brown hair and stooped to give him a hand to the couch. "Yep, yep, that was definitely me. I'm not sorry you know."

He was still squinting at her in pain and confusion. Jane covered her mouth, trying not to smile.

"I mean, you ran away from me. You tricked me into thinking you really wanted to talk to me and then I find out I'm talking to some kind of Star Trek imitation hologram, and then you have the audacity to steal the axe I use to come here and chop fire wood because it apparently gives a science lab "ambience"? DO YOU?"

"Wh..." Loki croaked. "Which part of that was directed at me?"

She folded her arms and huffed. "Nevermind. Actually..." The pseudo-rage melted from her face and her eyes widened slightly. "The thing, it didn't happen. Like, when you were near them, you didn't turn into one of them."

Looking distinctly less dopey, Loki sat more uprightly. "Indeed I did not." He turned to Thor. "Did I, brother? Do you have any thoughts as to why that may be?"

"My thoughts are currently on this town, Loki. I fear evacuation is a definite, and a possibility for anywhere else the Jotun go. My thoughts are with how to deal with them, and how they will be stopped if need be."

Jane addressed the room. "Have you heard of pilot fish?"

Loki frowned. "I have not."

Thor shook his head.

Darcy started to nod and raise her hand, but Jane shook her head.

"Pilot fish, or Naucrates ductor, congregate around bigger creatures, like sharks and feed off of their parasites. They benefit by staying close."

Loki steepled his knuckles, resting his lips on them. "So your analogy suggests that the Frost Giants may lead something bigger and more threatening to Earth, as was my folly in the promises the Tesseract held."

Jane looked at Loki thoughtfully. "If you see it that way, then, yes."

Thor appeared puzzled. "What possible alliance could the Jotun have with another entity that we don't know about."

"There are..." Loki started, and Darcy saw that his eyes had that glazed look again. She touched his arm to make sure he was really there, and he jumped at the sudden contact, but he looked more focused. "I apologize. There are many other realms, brother, and many ways to hop between them. I can be almost positive in my assumption that the upper realms have not been corrupted. If your theory be correct, then I suspect the Jotun have managed to penetrate a realm closer to theirs. We can be sure of the safety of Asgard..."

Thor nodded, catching on. "Father would have alerted us to the corruption of Muspelheim and Vanaheim."

"I very much doubt the dead have a quarrel with Earth, so Hel seems unlikely..."

"Did he just say Hell?" Darcy mouthed to Jane. She shook her head in response.

Loki held up his hand. "We must assume that each option is as likely as the next, if we do not first uncover the reasoning why. Jotun would not visit Midgard and not attack it unless they were waiting for others, and then a reason for doing so is still unclear."

Thor rubbed his bristly beard. "If not for desired goods, then, why does one attack another?"

"Protection - though from Midgard, that is unlikely. Revenge..." His green eyes widened. "Brother, could the Jotun devised a way to enter Midgard in vengeance for the slaughter of Laufey?" Loki stood, his face growing pale. "No one will believe it. No one will believe that it was not me who led them here." He tore at the roots of his hair, and Darcy gasped to see his skin had turned blue, his eyes red as though diseased.

"Brother, calm thyself!" Thor lay a hand on Loki's shoulder, who shrugged it off. "I will vouch for your honesty and good sentiment."

"Sentiment?" His voice turned to an ugly his, his patterned blue. "Oh, brother, sentiment? Who knows what these foul creatures have found, what they intend. Perhaps they found a way to follow me here. Do you really think that sentiment will prevent your precious heroes from throwing me into the abyss if they find a way? Or perhaps father will just have me killed! I know he was happier when he thought me dead!"

"Do not say such things, OUR father was distraught! Again, calm thyself and be of assistance in preparation."

He breathed heavily, and Thor, Jane and Darcy said nothing as Loki's skin faded to its regular colour, albeit with a flushed pallor. "Preparation? Are... we to go to war?"

"That is always a possibility. We must consult with the All-Father as soon as word comes from Director Fury."

"Hey, hey!"

They turned to Darcy.

"Just... to take your mind off things, you still technically owe me a date. Pie and coffee, if the town's still standing?"

Loki opened then closed his mouth. "I... you have my word, then." He sounded unsure.

She smiled in Jane's direction when the latter rolled her eyes. "Okay, good. Now," she raised the binoculars to her eyes. "What are those heat-challenged fellows up to now?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Long before the bells tinkled with the swinging open of the door, the only two patrons in the small coffee shop quickly thanked her and left out the car park entrance. What that man had done was… it reminded her of the war, but in a way, it made her sympathetic toward him. He looked so much like her son, but without his beautiful blue eyes and blonde curls, so strange on a young man going to war, who would do horrible things, things that he would come to realise he could not handle remembering…

Her eyes prickled with tears and she turned to pour more water into the coffee machine, composing herself while the door chimed open. She heard them pause in the doorway, but she was not surprised at the lack of customers. This was these people's homes, either here for movies, research or necessities. Food and coffee was one of those, but bringing him here, and now actually sitting down for a slice of pie? Pretty soon the whole town would be deserted. But ever since she had given birth to her son mid-way through studying her degree, she had taken each menial, hard-working job since with professionalism. She would be polite, accept their money, make sure it was the best damn thing he'd ever tasted, and leave.

What she saw when she turned around almost made her grip on the pot loosen, and she had to replaster the smile upon her face. "Oh, hello Darcy, dear." She turned to the young man from the other world. "Good morning." She had expected to hate him, for killing people, for loving something her son had been forced into, forced him to commit suicide… And she had felt pity, for this "Loki" looked precisely how her boy had, when they brought him back to her.

He said nothing, staring around the small, cosy diner as if it was a rat infested hovel, but inclined his head to the old woman politely.

Darcy bounced over to the counter, leaning up against the counter on her hands, as was her childish way. He scanned the confection himself with some vague feeling of enjoyment. He was rather fond of sweet things, and the bread and water in the Foster household was very lean indeed.

"Hmm, what do you feel like, Loki?" She asked, as casually as possible. He raised his brow.

"I am not accustomed to your Earth cuisine. Enlighten me."

"Well, there's that banana cream pie there, and the lemon cheese cake, that looks good, oh and chocolate cake pudding baskets with whipped cream... mmmglah."

He craned his neck, licking his lips as though to remove excess saliva. "I did not catch that last part, but the chocolate cake pudding baskets... They sound, agreeable. I feel foolish having no currency. A man is expected to shower his lady with treats, the reverse is simply not proper."

Darcy laughed, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry, who is WHOSE lady?" She turned back to the counter with her eyebrows near her hair line. "Hey, Izzy. Can I get two of... those," she pointed at them, and remembering Thor's appetite, added, "Make that, five."

Izzy smiled, looking unfazed, gently picking up the cakes with her tongs and putting one into a small, white paper bag for Darcy, and separating the other four for Loki. Darcy rummaged through her purse, picking out coins and one dollar bills. Izzy winked at Loki, then said. "How about we call it an even ten?"

Her cheeks were tinged with pink, and Loki understood that the older woman was letting her have the baked goods for much less than what they were worth. It was interesting enough, he thought, to see someone with good breeding, perfect skin and teeth, to be a commoner.

The morning was still freshly early, the landscape flat, the sky pink and blue. The only cars thumping down the street were from the crack heads who hadn't been to bed yet, low to the ground with smoke bellowing out their mufflers. Before it was filled with film stars and scientists (and Norse gods), Puente Antiugo was just another small town. One courthouse, two police cars, three diners, and plenty of average Joe's. Darcy was no stranger to those tiny places where poor met rich met picturesque. Most people lived in or near the main street in flats, and the more well to do had houses on the outskirts.

Darcy's cheeks were full of cake, and she licked the tips of her fingers. Loki deigned to allow her a small smile of appreciation, and he picked up one pudding basket in between his finger and thumb, delicately slicing through it with his front teeth, letting the cake and cream and chocolate fall back onto his tongue. She paused midway through scrunching up her paper bag, swearing she she saw his pupils grow larger. "Goof den?" She mumbled.

He looked from side to side, checking that no one was around, and swallowed one, two, three of them whole.

Darcy shook her head disbelievingly. "Its... its like watching real-life Pacman." He paused in licking the cream of his last two cakes. "Nevermind, nevermind. Let's walk."

She liked the brief few minutes when he ate and kept with her slow pace. She knew she should talk to him about hitting him with the shovel, or the Frost Giants, or Thor, or something that was irrelevant to all of that, but she couldn't think of anything, just that he looked like a greasy, thin lipped squirrel when he ate so fast. She smiled, then her eyes slid down to the heavy lightning filled bracelet. Sure, it was nice to feel safe, but if it really did seem degrading. Necessary, she supposed. But as long as that was there, she wouldn't have to worry about him charming her in order to escape, or simply for the sake of being charming. She hoped it was real, what he'd said, even if it was a means to distract her.

Loki was squinting around, holding his own arms. A brief moment of bleakness crossed Darcy's mind as she imagined the beautiful witchy skies of Asgard, of the magic he was capable of, and how dull she knew it all seemed. But Thor had lived for as many years as Loki, and was still delighted by the idea of frosting and zebra crossings and the reversing gear in the truck. Perhaps that was only because of Jane.

"Um," she mumbled. Loki's deadpan gaze found hers. "I'm sorry if this is boring."

"The sweet pastry was more than adequate."

She smiled, moving from foot to foot nervously. "Oh, so um, say... the sky."

He slightly raised one confused eyebrow, craning his head back, not paying heed to the men in hooded garments approaching from either side of the street. "The sky?"

"Well, do you find it pretty? Interesting?"

"It is a... pleasant colour. It is a very different to that of my ho- to that of Asgard." He corrected himself quickly, still stubbornly ignoring the offers of kinship. A strange, almost wistful look crossed his face then, in his eyes. "When the Bifrost was open, it was possible to see every single star in the sky, and all the world's felt connected. In the abyss, when they found me, there was nothing. Nothingness." He snorted, noticing Darcy again. "Idealism, I believe you call it, but without influence, without... others, just the beat of my own heart... That was freedom."

He could not have said more expressive words in a whispery, indifferent voice. She smiled a little. He cocked his head inquisitively.

"Look up again."

Loki blinked. "I will humour you." He looked.

"See how the colours fade together? They don't melt, and there isn't a distinct line."

"I see."

"That's freedom. To be neither one thing or another. To be full of life and to choose how you see something. Sometimes, when I wake up early enough, I take my bike out to the lake at sun rise. When it comes up over that water," she tugged on her sleeve, thinking. "You can't tell where the sky ends and the reflection begins."

"A good analogy, if a little soft." A smile pinched at the corner of his mouth. "Am I meant to be overcome by the natural beauty of this world in order to learn my lesson, hmm?"

She frowned, hurt despite herself the way he cut down one of the most enjoyable things in her life. "No. You know what? You do whatever you want."

"That's the problem," a low, rough voice said from behind Loki, and hands suddenly wrapped around Darcy's waist and mouth. Her scream was muffled against the hand, which tasted of sweat and tobacco. Darcy was lifted from her feet, and she kicked her legs as forcefully as possible to prevent being turned the other way.

From behind Loki, the other eight men grabbed his arms, torso and hair, the first fist actually ripping strands out and going back for more. Darcy screamed again, watching on in horror as the guys in hoods, all definitely locals, punched him in the gut, the chest, the face, the groin. She blinked back the tears which clouded her vision, protesting as loudly as possible while they beat him to the ground. His head was ripped back and his eyes were cold, icy and full of blank rage.

More disturbing than the blood running out of his parted lips or the bruises forming over his face was that look, which told Darcy he could kill them all. Weak and stripped of his powers, he was still stronger than all of them. She put all her pleading in her eyes then, not to the big beefy guy holding her, but to Loki. She squealed even more, struggling, shaking her head. His eyelids relaxed, and he looked resigned, and possibly fearful. She almost regretted her plea as he finally fell, and their boots laid into him with loud crunches.

Finally, when blood was running from his nose and mouth, one eye was shut and his breath was a heaving rattle, they let up, running as the siren of a police cruiser blipped. Someone had been watching, maybe even called the cops. But the siren should have been on. The small blip sounded like a warning to buddies, to her...

Darcy fell to her hands and knees when she was released, grazing her palms. Clambering forward, she touched Loki's shoulder gently.

"Oh my God... are you alright? Please be okay... Oh, Jesus."

Blood oozed through his forest green tunic in multiple places. He winced as she helped him roll onto his back.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She cradled his head gently, unsure of what to do, looking around to find the thugs, the police cruiser and just about every other pair of eyes gone from the streets. "Hey! HEY!" No one came. "HEY, WE NEED A LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!" She figured whatever Odin had taken from him included the ability to heal like a god, though had a normal man taken that kind of beating he would no doubt have been dead. She wished she hadn't decided to leave her phone at home, for the first time since she bought it.

His eyes kept on closing. "Hey, hey, Loki, hey, stop that, no... NO, hey, come on, stay awake... Oh, please stay awake."

"Let me rest, infernal creature." He murmured.

"But you aren't meant to... concussion. Ohhhh, dear." She tried lifting his head higher. His eye lids fluttered slightly. "HELP!" Still nothing. He shivered, coughing a glob of blood onto the sleeve of her sweater. "Ohhh my Godddd, gross. Why isn't there a pay phone around here?" She muttered, considering leaving him to get help, but being too scared to now let go of his head. She rocked slightly on the balls of her feet, thinking. Loki's eyes closed again, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Hey, no, no, hey, wake up! WAKE UP! Okay, what works in movies?"

She slapped him. One eyelid twitched.

"Oh no wait... you're not hysterical. Uh..." She swallowed, looking at the blood dripping from his cut lip. "Ohh-kay, okay, okay, okay, okay, here we go."

As if attacking a resuscitation dummy with her face, Darcy took a deep breath, closing her eyes tight, and kissed him on the surprisingly warm lips.

Her eyes flew open as his hands clasped around her throat tightly.

"Never, without my permission!" He rasped hoarsely.

"Alright, alright!" Darcy squeaked airlessly. "I'm sorry!"

His fingers slowly unwrapped and she jumped up to her feet, still lending him a hand. He used her and the wall to get up gingerly.

"You've gotta admit, that kinda worked."

He glared at her with one good eye, dabbing at the cuts on his face with the edge of his sleeve. "Is this your glorified beauty, hmm?"

"Hey, I have no idea what happened! It's not like they didn't grab me too."

"But you are not hurt?" There was a touch of concern in his voice, but she wasn't going to bother mentioning this stuff just to be shut down any more.

"Yes."

She promptly burst into tears.

"You said you were not hurt?" He took a ginger step and cringed.

"I'm not," she mumbled thickly, "but that was horrible! I'm so sorry that happened..."

He coughed again, trying to breathe through what was probably more than one cracked rib. "It is hardly any fault of yours."

"Thanks, though, for not, well... defending yourself."

He looked at her, blinking, breathing heavily through his mouth still. "Make no mistake; they would be dead if you were not here."

"Well, I'm glad I was." She sniffled, her voice still shaky.

Loki lifted his heavy, bound arm up to waist, holding himself. His eyes rested on it for a while. "I suppose that I too am grateful for that."

Her brief smile was accompanied by two equally sudden, fat, wet tears.

The sound of skidding tyres and an engine got their attention. Jane and Thor, in the truck, had arrived on the scene. Jane's face was lit with immediate horror as she pulled over. Thor jumped from the passenger seat, looked enraged.

"Brother! What happened?"

Loki winced as Thor clapped a heavy hand on his shoulder. "It matters not. I believe the townsfolk are sharpening their pitchforks... No doubt they think I have something to do with this."

Jane stuck her head out the window. "That's why we came... S.H.I.E.L.D arrived not five minutes ago, and Tony and Bruce are here."

Loki stopped mid step on his way to the truck. "Oh, so the authorised mob? Do they also carry chains and bats and steel knuckles to deliver their blows?"

Thor put his hand between Loki's shoulder blades, edging him forward, toward the back with Darcy again. "No brother, but if they see for themselves that you are not involved..."

He glared at Thor. "What then? My name shall be cleared? It will never be, Thor."

"Just trust me."

Whether he did or not was unknown. He did not say one word, simply looked at the police and S.H.I.E.L.D barrier around the large, blue cluster of Jotun, waiting for an attack or sign of hostility from the latter. Even Loki would admit (to himself) the strangeness of the sitting and waiting. The giant, black bones of their dead kindred sat piled in the ditch with them. A giant, synthetic tent had been set up, full of monitors and people and technology and suspicion, as it had been when Mjolnir landed.

Banner was bent over a screen, looking troubled, but thankfully not angered. Tony Stark saw them come through the flap. He gave Thor and Jane a huge smile, then his cunning, brown eyes fell on Loki.

"Kinda small for a Frost Giant, aren't you?"

Thor's mouth twitched as though he was suppressing a smile. "The matter at hand, Tony?"

"Oh, it's okay Thor. Your brother and I have talked inadequacy before, am I right, big boy?" He winked at Loki, who said nothing still. The smile slid down his face when he inspected Loki's face and hunched posture. "Hey now, this looks familiar. Brucey boy, you've been out done."

Dr. Banner looked up from his screen shyly, removing his glasses and addressing Loki. "Oh, yeah. I am kinda sorry about that. But as much as I hate that other guy, it had to be done."

Tony laughed, his voice dripping with irony. "Kinda? Sorry? Are you actually kidding me Dr. Banner? Oh well, looks like someone beat you to this round of Fight Club, anyway. What's the story, Rocky?"

Darcy shivered. "Hey, there were like, eight guys, it was scary."

Tony had to lean so far around Loki, Jane and the bulk of Thor that he almost fell down. "Really? Who are you?"

"Darcy Lewis." She rubbed her red eyes.

"I see."

"Why don't you all come in and have a seat?" Bruce asked kindly. "Clint and Natasha decided it was best if they stayed on their little holiday." He explained. "Especially Natasha." He cleared his throat, looking away from Loki.

"We're using Stark Industries' new atmosphere detection software," Tony interjected. "I thought I'd be kinda useful, you know, just in case any other jealous megalomaniac decided to invade our planet and dimension ever again, and it's coming up with nothing. It's kinda like, they're just sitting there, waiting. Director Fury explained that there was the chance of them scouting for something. Anyway..."

Darcy leaned over to Jane as Tony Stark rambled about how much of a genius he was for figuring everything out. "I wonder if he always refers to his own work in the third person?" Jane giggled silently.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she whispered back. "It was going fine until the Latin Frankenstein villagers decided to show."

Tony finished gesturing to the graphs on the screens behind him. "So we just have to send one of our guys in to find out what they want exactly. We can't technically attack if they aren't a threat. Thor? What's the matter?"

Thor had been rubbing his chin thoughtfully, shaking his head. "I think it would be unwise to sent a human being in there. They will be murdered. They don't know the Jotun codes of engagements, and if there is a threat planned, or they are leading something to Earth, then they won't hesitate to crush any young man or woman you send in there like an ant."

Listening to Thor but looking at his feet, the memory of his own tirade made him shiver, his gaze brought up to Darcy. Perhaps it was merely pity (for at this time it was all he believed he could feel toward the humans) but the thought of someone as unknowing, clumsy and moreover, someone as genuinely uninvolved in conflict as she to be killed by those monsters... He shivered again to know he was one of them, and moved away from her slightly.

"I agree," he rasped. "And I wish to take this chosen person's place. The Jotun know not of my treachery; they believe it was Odin who hath slain their king. Let me do it; perhaps I can offer them what they want, simply to find out what it is."

The wind whistled under the tent flaps, as they stared at Loki in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

"So let me get this straight: you want us to believe that even though you're one of them biologically, you couldn't care less if they were all dead? Okay, so, even though that in itself is messed up… You also think that if they offer you a better deal… that you WON'T take it? That you're technically on our side? And Thor seems to think that you would have come to your senses but those aliens were torturing you, and you thought you'd be able to control them in the end – justifying the amount of people who DIED? Really?"

Tony lifted his thumb from his own walkie-tal kie, awaiting a response from the crackle. Despite his sunglasses, he couldn't see Loki from the scaffolding for the glare of the sun.

"It matters not what Thor believes." Came the warbled response.

Darcy had donned her binoculars and sat at Tony's feet while Jane and Dr. Banner talked science. She couldn't believe it - Tony freaking Stark! In high school, she'd had the cover of Time magazine pinned to her wall for inspiration. Inspiration not to become a genius entrepreneur, but to one day earn enough money to buy all the gadgets she could get her hands on and pay the bills. The binoculars clinked against her glasses as she tried to focus on a single image.

Loki's lean torso was covered with the extra ten pounds of bullet-proof vest, not exactly a huge consideration for a an unarmed, virtual mortal. He held the walkie talkie loosely at his side.

Tony scrutinised the distant figure, bringing the speaker up to his mouth. "Okay, well, when your ready we'll get the snipers on standby."

Darcy squirmed uncomfortably on her elbows, trying to get a better look at the enormous, black-blue Frost Giants, whose skin crackled in the sun and dry wind at every slight movement.

Surprisingly, he did not answer right away. Darcy lowered the binoculars, slowly getting onto her knees and then her sneakered feet. Below, Bruce and Jane opened up the tent flaps. Jane's arms were folded over her chest anxiously, while Bruce held his own in his pants pockets. About fifty yards ahead of the fortress, Thor stood, watching his brother intently, waiting. They all watched as the distant figure's shoulders tense then fell in a deep breath. Back straight, Loki lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth. "I am prepared."

Tony nodded, fiddling with the frequency of the old school device, his voice carrying to some fifty or more S.H.E.I.L.D agents' ear pieces. On the ground and in the slight rises in the earth, they stood behind barriers, vests and guns. In an even wider semi- circle, some of the townsfolk were being held back by the local police. A few farmers had stopped by with folded arms. One protester waved his sign highly, demanding all aliens be returned to their worlds and earth be left alone. A few superstitious folk were holding onto charms, murmuring, scared of the giants and of Loki's destruction. It would not be long before the media arrived.

Rumours poured from the small TV in the tent Jane and Bruce sat anxiously by. He did not know her from Eve, but worried that Thor would have to leave. Even more troubling was the attachment the kid had on Loki. Bruce knew that if there was a shred of decency in him he would discourage Darcy, maybe even do good by this and then somehow, making her hate him. If that's what it took... Its what it took from him, the hope of a family. Jane's anxiously folded arms told him a lot, observed, cursed as he was.

"The war criminal Loki..."

"...Loki..."

"...Loki..."

"...Loki, whose identity is unknown to governmental - "

Jane flicked through all the channels the switched it off, irritably. A group of bare foot, tanned children and a flutter of small, fluffy chickens watched the giants, pointing and giggling, far enough away to be fascinated but not frightened by their black, sticky maws and red slits for eyes. Though surrounded by Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk and countless police and S.H.E.I.L.D agents, Jane still felt unsettled as she glanced up to watch Darcy's sneakered feet hang over the lip of the scaffolding.

Tony Stark stared at short-body-long-legs-huge-rack from a different angle, watching as she held her ridiculous, old-fashioned binoculars in one hand, updating her Twitter in the other at lightning speed without looking.

"Quite a set you got there," he said mildly, staring at her from the top of his glasses.

One eyebrow rose. "Huh?"

"Binoculars." His mouth twitched in a half smile. "You know Stark Industries does - "

"I can't afford it. Well... not unless you give me a job computer hacking." She smiled serenely, trying not to show her fangirling over Tony Stark.

"Wait, I thought you were doing social science or some mumbo jimbo?"

She laughed a little, bright teeth showing. "Ahaaaa, mumbo jimbo, wow. That's a great everyone's embarrassing uncle line. Anything else?"

"Oooh, you've got balls, I like that - Well, not literally. Well, oh dear, maybe you do. Maybe you've got a massive complex and I've just gone and blurted out your hermaphroditic secrets-"

"Shut up!"

"Hey, now, there's no need - "

"SHHH!"

There was a rumbling louder in there ear phones which soon reached the crowds of people, all murmuring and squinting to see the half dozen Jotun stand at full height in a line as Loki reached the lip of the crater. The only sound to be heard was the oblivious clucking of chickens around the children's feet. The radio crackling fell silent, as the agents and officers waited to see if there was to be a repeat Loki smash. Darcy exhaled, surprising herself when she noticed that she had been holding her breath in fear of what might happen. To see them align automatically was truly a revelation, as if they were expecting him. Tony frowned, still wondering if it had been the greasy jerk's whole plan, when a massive, blue, blistered arm shot out. If Loki faked his backward stumble, he was a damn good actor. He spoke into his own head set.

"What do you think, Dr Banner? What are they showing him? This thing Loki's set up?"

Banner responded instantly. "It doesn't smell like a rat to me, Mr. Stark. Can you see what they're showing him?"

Tony held up his 3D tablet. "Mmm, no, looks like we're too far away for that kind of visual. Main concern is other idiots getting in the way. It's still a good thing we planned for one of his maniac plans. These guys look just as iffy, you know, but bigger."

"Okay, so, this might be a thing between these inhuman freaks? Oh. No offence."

He could almost hear the smile. "It's all right, and, yes, it looks like it. But they're still on our soil having their showdown."

Tony scratched his beard. "Hmm, well, if things escalate I guess we'll be getting Cap to do the Earth is our home speech."

"Yah."

"No audio yet?"

Darcy, listening to the conversation from Tony's side, stared intently at Loki's back and the towering monsters. It was as though he were trying to decipher something.

"Not yet. They're definitely making sure he's getting a good look at whatever it is without us seeing. What if it's a weapon, Stark?"

"Well, Dr. Banner, I brought plenty of counter defence along with me. And then, I guess, there's you."

Banner sighed. "Oh, great."

Darcy stifled a scream as Jane appeared on the side of the scaffolding, being boosted up by Thor.

"Nothing?" She whispered.

"I worry that whatever it is, it is an offer for Loki - the means by which the Jotun got here, and a means for him to escape his exile here on Earth."

"Exile?" Darcy took her binoculars from her neck, untangling her hair. "So, you mean, he's actually not allowed to go back until he changes?"

Thor's bulk began straining on the frame, and he clambered up next to Jane. "That was the All Father's plan. A good one, I believe."

Darcy softly bit her lip. "Until these guys showed up?"

Thor opened his mouth to answer, and all the audio receivers crackled with an incoming message.

"Thor?"

There was not one person not shocked to hear Loki address his older brother. The voice was calm like water, prone to ripples at the slightest touch, a controlled whisper.

Before Thor could use one of S.H.I.E.L.D's communication devices clumsily, Darcy grabbed his arm.

"Look!"

The massive creatures were kneeling so that their chins touched the ground. Slowly, Loki turned around to face the far off crowd. From that distance it was difficult to see, but the shape was unmistakable. In Loki's hands was a crown, specifically, the crown of the slain King Laufey.

It took some time for the others to understand, but the revelation hit Thor straight away. The Jotun had come to Midgard to find their next leader in line.

The oldest living son of Laufey.

Loki.

Holding on to Jane in one arm and Darcy in the other, Thor landed steadily in Heimdall's gate. He quickly pulled them off the transport circle, where Loki and the massive escort of Jotun appeared seconds later. Though the raven's had been flying around, Loki's lack of magic had meant that he could not hide the scenario from Heimdall's glowing golden eyes. That was good, for often Loki's own justifications and defensive tongue got him into trouble.

Jane opened her eyes, dizzy, to see the massive form of Heimdall, and standing behind him, a man and a woman who must have been Odin and Frigga. Leaping forward, Frigga grabbed her youngest son, squeezing him in her arms. "Oh, Loki..."

She reached out with her other hand, seizing Thor, while Odin watched, his single eye appearing to show relief and a certain amount of concern. Jane and Darcy stood together, the younger woman clutching onto the scientist frightenedly, looking unwell. Thor stepped back, his father clasping him briefly on the shoulder, before turning to Jane. She felt short, and small, and extremely goofy in her jeans and t shirt.

"Ah, so this is the lovely Jane my Thor speaks so fondly of?" He smiling, bending one knee and kissing her hand.

She blinked, bursting into an uncharacteristic giggle.

"Thank you, yes, I'm Jane, I, uh..." She looked uncertainly at Thor. "Your Highness?"

He chuckled deeply, his joyous reception of the humans more of an insult to the waiting Jotun than anything. Loki stood silently beside Frigga, watching with guarded eyes.

"I have no jurisdiction over your realm, dear one, you may refer to me as 'Odin' if you wish". He smiled, realising the culture shock was more than enormous.

Thor beamed at his father, who had not yet addressed Loki. "You managed to fix to Bifrost, father, that's - "

"A matter for another time."

Still smiling, Odin's eye fixed sharply on Thor. Slowly, he turned to Loki and the Frost Giants, who had their heads bent slightly out of respect.

Frigga eyed her husband carefully. Jane and Thor looked from Loki's face to Odin, who stretched his hand out to his wayward adoptive son. The Jotun ignored the familial proceeding entirely. Loki's face was blank, and if he were feeling anger or joy he was hiding it entirely. It settled Frigga's mind, for Loki would often express the opposite of his true feeling if he were to lie or trick or cheat, and yet something in his stony face made her uneasy. His hand slowly grasped Odin's wrist, and his head inclined by only an inch. "Father."

The tension was briefly broken before Darcy lurched from Jane's gripping and turning to vomit in what she thought was an empty corner.

Odin's laughter broke the silence, followed by Thor. Jane looked at Darcy, horrified, and Frigga's hand covered her mouth, hiding her smile. Loki's mouth twitched and he strode over to Heimdall. Clutching her stomach, Darcy slowly raised her head and, in horror, realised she had thrown up on the feet of the Gatekeeper of Asgard. He stared down at her unblinkingly, her face a furious red, and her heart fluttered in her chest.

"I'm so sorry, oh my God, GODS, PLURAL, I... Oh geez, can you be put to death for throwing up...? I'm sorry."

Heimdall sighed and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Midgardians."

Loki's sleek whisper filled the portal, which had finally slowed to a stop. "Miss Lewis, a companion of Miss Foster."

"Uh, you can call me Darcy."

"Very well," Odin suddenly boomed, "We have matters to discuss. I must speak with both of my sons, and the council must convene on the matter at hand. You understand, wife?"

She lifted her chin. "They shall be brought to the royal hall presently, All Father." She left down the massive translucent steps down to her horse.

Finally lifting his head to face the Jotun, his face was not livid or confused, at all. In fact, he nodded to them. He had made plans with them. He had organised... what?

Loki's face filled with rage as he saw the transaction, though Thor also seemed confused.

"You did this? YOU organised for the Jotun to come and find me? What about the risk? What if they had turned against me? Killed me? YOU WOULD TAKE THAT RISK?"

Jane and Darcy shrunk and the unexpected anger, confused, but Thor stepped forward to them. "Father? You have some sort of agreement with the Frost Giants?"

The tallest Jotun, the darkest blue, answered for the rest. "He does indeed, Asgardian. He offered us the powers of his adoptive "son", Loki, the heir of King Laufey, in return for sparing his life for killing our leader. We have chosen the former." There was something entirely unsettling about that smile.

Darcy understood. He hated the Jotun for the monsters that they were, so much so that he had tried to kill them all. But he had skills, if he was there link to Asgard, then Odin could help them to rebuild. This was his punishment all along, for good behaviour in the face of the Avengers was nothing compared to being crushed by the Frost Giants. Loki had been sent to Midgard not to learn a lesson there, but to become attached enough that even if he did refuse and Asgard was attacked, he could do little to defend Earth from all of Jotunheim. Odin led the troupe of Frost Giants to the royal hall, and now Darcy knew this was his attempt to complace them, so they did not attack any of the Realms. It was an enormous gamble, particularly on his son's life. She blinked, realising Thor was in a heated discussion with Loki. The four of them were now alone.

"What else could he have done, Loki?"

Tears swelled in Loki's red-rimmed eyes. "What else but tortured me? Tortured me while concoting his plan - a plan which very well could have ended in my death!"

"But that is what you fail to comprehend, Loki! What makes your life more important than those on Earth whom you slaughtered?"

Loki's eyes closed tightly, as if he tried to push the memories from his head. "I know it is not! I know this." He exhaled, opening his eyes. They had all taken a step back, and he looked down to see that the crown had slipped from the crook of his elbow to his skin, his blue skin. It dropped to the ground with a tinkle. "You fail to comprehend, you all are given choices, chances..." His voice was fading, and Thor worried for his brother's sanity. "MY EYES," he practically shrieked, and Darcy grabbed Jane's hands, frightened tears in her eyes. "My eyes, the snake, it burned out my eyes, my innards, this is no hammer dropped in Midgard, no test of faith, this is cruelty!" Then, he let out a real sob, tearing at the roots of his hair.

Thor took another step toward Loki, closing his large hands around his brother's slender wrists. "Calm thyself, Loki. Calm thyself now."

He looked down, not wanting the women to see his face. He ground his teeth together."

"Good. Now, quiet as I speak. I do not enjoy deception as much as the next person. I have told you how harsh I believed your torture to be. I heard your half-lucid cries for help when others simply blocked them out, and they did not just sound when the serpent melted away your flesh. But look at it this way, brother Loki." His eyes softened. Loki's composure had returned as he appeared to bristle at Thor's defence of those who had wronged him. "Would you rather plummet yourself into the void again, but this time, become one with bitter loneliness and murder? Would you bring war upon our three realms and more, or would you try and restore the peace? Please think clearly, Loki, past the hurt, even though you deserve better. You shall only have it when your heart comes with peace."

It looked as though Loki had to actually bite his tongue not to retort hurtfully, but his fine eyebrows furrowed as he took in his brother's words.

"I will make this admission - it is a nice portrait you paint with your words, Thor, but is it for me?"

Thor scowled. "It is if you make it to be. I do not think I can say much more."

There was a long silence, as Loki stared off into space. "Very well, I shall think about it. Now, should you not clothe yourself in appropriate attire for council? And Miss Foster, too?"

Thor's eyes briefly settled upon Darcy before he held his hand out to Jane.

"Come! I promised you long ago that I would show you Asgard, and your tour is well overdue."

Hesitantly, Jane opened her mouth in half protest, looking anxiously at Darcy, but allowed herself to be dragged out onto the bridge under the glorious Asgardian night sky, toward the Palace of Odin, the Hall of Asgard.

Darcy, who noticed that both Heimdall and her vomit were gone, made to cautiously approach Loki, but instead of looking up, he vanished into thin air.

Her mouth opened in a wide 'O' of panic. "Oh no, oh no not again, with me, not here..."

"I believe it is your turn to calm thyself, Miss Lewis."

She jumped, startled to see Loki crouching in the corner, long streaks of tears down his face. She wished Thor was still close outside, and terror rose further into her heart at Loki's next words.

"In the cross over the void Odin removed my wristlet, and in that second I knew he would not do so lest he planned my punishment or to kill me. I made a double appear, and do not think that during his revelation that the consideration of killing all of you did not cross my mind."

She felt a chill up her spine, tried to speak, but he held his hand up.

"It was only a very, very brief consideration. It tastes like poison in my mouth to repeat, but there is some truth to Thor's mad ramblings about choosing one's destiny." His calm voice sounded even more insane, but she listened. "The thought of Jotunheim declaring vengeance on the Nine Realms disturbed me more than I thought possible. When they showed me the crown, I felt my control slipping, being filled with their hate and all the warmth leaving my body... More disturbing, then, was the guilt. I was immobilised by it. It is the most weak of all concepts, the one the other's fail to understand. How do I move forward, I cannot possibly be King of Asgard, Midgard nor of Jotunheim, with that much guilt." He was very close to Darcy and she wondered briefly if he would kiss her or snap her neck. "For that it was I do not understand. How they can imagine I can do that, with the faces of those who have been killed in my head? The humans, the Asgardians, the Jotun innocent... one of whom I was. That is true punishment, one's own mind..." A true tear slipped from Loki's dark lashes, and he jumped when prodded hard in the chest by Darcy.

"Just checkin'... making sure I'm talking to the real one."

He blinked at her disbelievingly. "That is all you have to say? After I tell you my deepest horrors, intimately?"

Another chill ran up her spine, unrelated to the last one. "Yeah, I get it, but the thing is... I do think its horrible and unfair and I guess but its good that you feel guilty. You're the one who made the decision killing people, thinking that would all be okay if you became there leader, if it was good in the end. Well, I'd rather be tied to that rock under that snake than kill people."

Loki's eyes widened in outrage, then shrank into venomous slits.

"I would put you there myself for such a claim!" He spat.

Hurt, she took a step back. "See? You react like that and think its okay! You think its all okay if it works out in the end, but it isn't. It's the getting there that's important. And its not even the end, shitty as the deal is, you've still been given another chance here."

He glared at her, panting heavily. "What would such an idiotic wench know?"

Darcy's tears now rolled freely down her cheeks. She bit her lip, trying not to actually whimper. She swallowed, gathering her pride, and pushed passed him. "A lot more than a lonely, bitter fucker like you."

Loki stood in the entrance holding himself, watching as she began the long trip across the bridge.

"Where are you going?" He shouted. She ignored him, stomping away. "That will take you half a day without a horse or magic! You foolish girl! Stop walking away from me!" His voice simply echoed in the chamber, and now she was too far away to hear him.

He was so angry, so angry... Betrayed, and yet, she was right?

"It is your fault I hurt your feelings!" He yelled at the increasingly distant figure. His voice was hoarse with effort. When she was almost an eighth of the way there, he sighed, fearing some beast would jump up if she were too close to the edge. He sighed, rubbing his tear filled eyes. "Damn you for your guilt inducement!" He called, without effort. He rolled his eyes, and felt a brief spark of hope that someone cared enough about him to hit him with a shovel, buy him puddings and walk away in a huff without an extreme assault on his character. This level of guilt was almost reforming.

Loki's steed was waiting at the base of the steps, and he mounted it in a single, fluid motion.

"WAIT, I'M COMING!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Darcy heard his vague shouting in the distance, but her anger soon faded into the back of her mind when she beheld the beautiful sky. It seemed to glow every colour in the darkness, sprinkled with all the stars in the universe, reminding her of fireworks of the fourth of July in New Mexico, or New Year's Eve in New York. She wondered what Tony, Bruce and the S.H.I.E.L.D agents had thought when they had been transported in a flash of rainbow light. It made her smile, and looking out to the rivers of water flowing literally into space, the thought was comforting. She hadn't been prepared for the culture shock. As soon as the sound of horse hooves reached her ears, Darcy bit her lip, finding her resolve. She did not want to make humans appear weak, least of all by clutching onto Loki on his dashing steed. Please.

"I'm not talking to you," She called when she knew he was close enough.

He rode the beautiful black filly to her side, looking down upon Darcy with an expressionless face.

"My presence is required, most immediately."

"Oh, sure no, you go ahead and go to your little ceremony where you'll most likely throw another tantrum." Loki watched Darcy carefully as she stomped a little further, then stopped. "And another thing… are we standing on a rainbow bridge? Like… like an actual bridge made of rainbows?"

He blinked. She was glaring at him with the fuel of one thousand stars. "Yes."

"And we're in another dimension?" The ridiculously adorable human demanded.

"I believe that is what you would call it," Loki replied, evermore uncertain. "Why are you asking these things? Are you experiencing some kind of frail, shock - ?"

Darcy turned away from Loki, and his worry grew when she started hopping, bouncing from one foot to the other and flapping her hands. There was a high, whining noise, which he then identified as coming from her.

"… oh my gosh oh my gosh OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH-"

Before he could ask what the matter was or if she was hurt, Darcy hurtled back toward Loki's horse, flailing with her arms, with huge, excited blue eyes.

"You have to show me Asgard! You HAVE TO."

He sighed, nearly planting his face into the horse's earthy mane, deflating with relief. "Yes, very well! But I must converse with my mother and… the Allfather. Please." Extending his forearm, Loki lifted Darcy up over the carefully woven saddle. She spent another long moment being stuck before eventually getting her one stout leg on either side of the beast.

"Thanks – AHHH!"

Loki's strong, pale hand grabbed her arm before she toppled backward and he pulled her against his back, placing her hand on his sternum. "Hold tightly, and please be still if you can."

Darcy felt herself blushing, her large breasts pushed against his lean, muscular frame. She hadn't wanted this to happen, perhaps for this exact reason - it was enjoyable for the horse to trot, then canter, then gallop, seeming to really fly down the transparent, glowing bridge and whipping her hair away from her face. She imagined if she could feel the warmth of his skin combined with the fact she was well aware that she was wrapped around him, her mind would be reeling. Hell, he mind was already reeling from this place where water dropped off into the sky and there seemed to be a full circumference of perpetual twilight. She was slowly feeling something beyond the comfort of Loki... the comfort of Loki? That was exactly it. Darcy's nausea and nervousness were plain now that she realised that without Jane, Loki was the only thing she was clinging to.

The horse seemed to weave its way through the golden turrets and archways, up the ornate, slowly elevating path to Asgard Hall. By the time Loki handed his reigns to a stable boy and stepped gracefully down from the horse, Darcy's eyes were tightly shut. It had reminded her of Atreyu in The Neverending Story making his way up to the Ivory Tower, then she reminded herself that it was a fictional story. Then a fresh was of disillusion and illness had hit her when she realised that she was in Norse mythology. Gentle hands probed her white knuckles away from the saddle and she nearly toppled upside down when Loki lifted her off the horse.

"I guess culture shock really is a shock..." Darcy mumbled into his shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

Darcy cringed at Thor's voice.

"Do not stare at me that way, Miss Foster, she is not dealing with the experience very well on her own - I did nothing."

"Darcy?"

Oh, great, so Jane was fine. She'd expected Jane's science-wired mind to be the one flipping its junk, but instead she stood in front of Thor, Jane, Loki and a dozen royal guards, seeing everything blurry and twice, feeling like she would throw up again. She hoped Heimdall wasn't around.

"Yeah - yup." She squeezed her eyes shut again for at least three seconds, and felt a little better when she opened them. "Yes, its fine. I'll be fine. I'm fine."

Jane's hazel eyes were round and concerned. Then Darcy's eyes fell. She was garbed in a beautiful, thin pink dress, a elegant, gold filagree tiara crowning her head. Thor's chin-length blond hair had been combed, and his brilliant vermilion cloak fell all the way to his feet. Loki was being fitted in similarly princely attire, a long, forest green cape - the colour of his irises - and she felt combs go through her own hair, and they were muttering about not having time for appropriate attire.

She swallowed, suddenly aware that she was clinging to Loki's arm, and they stood behind Jane and Thor. Before she could ask, there was a loud, crashing echo, akin to thunder. They walked in what she now realised was a procession to large, gilded wooden doors, and she heard the muffled sound of their names being announced on the other side. Darcy was practically digging her fingernails into Loki's forearm as they marched forward, surrounded by guards, and the rhythmic pounding because ten times as loud when the doors swung inward, revealing the throne room bigger than three football fields. It was probably as tall as the sky, so she didn't look up. The resounding noise was coming from every single member of the court banging their staffs against the floor, and as Thor smiled, holding Mjolnir above his head, the roar of the enthusiastic crowd was deafening. Most eyes were transfixed on the eldest son of Odin, happy for his return, apart from the Allfather himself. Both he and his wife, Frigga, were exchanging glances, and only when they had reached the throne, Loki leading Darcy off to the right and Thor taking Jane to the left, did the noise die down.

When Odin spoke, his eye was cast across the crowd. "My sons, Thor - "

The explosion from the crowd was briefly renewed, and a small, somewhat feigned smile tainted the king's lips. "And Loki."

There was again an applause, but it was so markedly subdued compared to Thor's reception, Darcy felt her face go red. She looked at Loki, not glad to be distracted from her silly, sudden terror with was was bound to be a very tense and awkward confrontation. But Odin was not finished with his introductions. He gestured to Jane, who honestly looked more beautiful and composed than she had ever in her life. "Miss Jane of Foster, companion to my eldest son and heir!"

More enthusiastic cheering welled up, and Jane beamed. However, when Darcy caught her eyes, she could see that she too was concerned about the state of affairs, and Darcy wondered where the Jotun were now. Odin surely knew, but did the entire court know that his adopted son had inherited the throne of Jotunheim? What turmoil would it cause if he were to accept? Would it mean war if he did not? Darcy was torn from her thoughts as Odin's voice boomed in the lull, this time, speaking her name, looking directly at her.

"Miss Darcy of Lewis, visitor to Asgard - and who will speak for her?"

His single good eye flicked to her left to Loki, and she gulped, terribly anxious at having been thrown right into the middle of a family feud.

Darcy tried sweeping the crowd to see if the eyes on her were hostile, but from this distance and without her glasses, they appeared to be more curious than anything. They were probably relieved to see Loki's punishment going on course. She was more startled than a frightened rabbit when his arm reached around her and drew her close to him. He was still looking directly up at the king.

"I will speak for the daughter of Midgard." There was a slight pause in which he did not blink. "Companion to thine second son, Loki."

A surprised murmur ran through the crowd, but if it was any kind of act of defiance, it did not show in Odin's face. In fact, he looked as though he was on the verge of smiling, but that felt rather sinister to Darcy. Loki inclined his head politely to the audience, and she did the same - maybe it was like the British royal family, and they might be distracted from the politics for the gossip and relationships. At least for a while. She needed to ask him as soon as they were alone what he meant by it, though. Something seemed odd. She couldn't work out if she was part of Odin's plan for Loki, and if so, did Loki know about it the entire time? Something about the way his eyes kept flashing to the ravens perched high on the statues of his father's head told her yes.

As soon as Odin had leaned back in his seat, the crowd had spread across the hall, which was now set up more like a ballroom. Enormous tables were set with pigs, goats, lamb, beef roasts, braised vegetables of every kind, puddings, soups, pies, goblets and trays of fruit Darcy couldn't even see over. She glanced curiously at Odin and Frigga, who were clearly leading Thor, Jane and Loki away from the gathering. Again, it was all a distraction. She saw Heimdall standing at the end of the hall in an archway that Darcy guessed led up to the private quarters of the royal Asgardians. She recognised Thor's friends looking over, Heimdall shaking his head. This was private, for now.

"Come," Loki whispered, gently leading her by the arm. She wouldn't have been able to simply walk next to him, as Thor was with Jane. Darcy felt light headed and not quite relieved as they passed Heimdall. She mouthed more apologies, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a half smile. She tried not to step on Loki's cloak as he silently led her up a narrow, spiral staircase into a warm room made from stone, with a fireplace in the middle and view of Asgard on the opposite wall. She wasn't sure if it was a window, but it couldn't be open air, as none of the cool, night air leached in.

"Oh, Loki!"

Darcy took a step back, cursing herself for being so boring and frail, holding her own arms for support.

Frigga broke the silence by rushing to her youngest. They embraced, and she held Loki's face in her hands. "You have fresh bruises."

"Yes."

She stared directly into his eyes, still holding his head up. "You look better though. Just... better."

His glance briefly flickered to Odin, who like Thor and Jane, were watching the exchange carefully.

"... Yes."

She made a noise that sounded like a relieved sob before hugging him again, reaching for Thor with her other arm.

"You are finding your way," she whispered to Loki. "And you have found your Jane."

While they commented on her loveliness, the words stuck with Darcy. His Jane. It wasn't the fact that she was beautiful and gracious and with the wit and intelligence of their highest kings, or hips to bear a thousand children, or whatever other compliments she was getting showered with. It wasn't the fact that it was a woman suited to Thor, it was the fact that it was Jane and always meant to be Jane. Darcy looked up to see Loki watching her. Was that it? Was that what was meant to happen now? She suddenly realised why she felt so afraid and confused, because there was no Darcy in this picture. Loki would have been fine on his own... wouldn't he? She felt a chill on her skin as she thought she saw his head shake just a tiny fraction, his eyes boring into hers with the intensity... the intensity of what?

"And it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss Darcy," Odin stepped over to her, and she curtsied, allowing one had to be pried from her as he bent to kiss it. "You clearly mean a lot to my son, and I'd like to thank you." He turned. "Loki?"

Loki stepped forward, shoulders straight. He extended his hand slightly to shake the Allfather's hand, but it was knocked aside, as Odin pulled Loki into a strong embrace. Slowly, Loki's arms reached around his father, and for a long time, no one moved. Frigga and Jane beamed, but Darcy was surprised to see Thor looked about as troubled as she felt. Not about the exchange, but about that thing that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Put from your mind ideas about heritage and know that you are my son."

His voice was muffled. "I know."

Loki pulled back from Odin's embrace, and the elder stared at his son's beaten face, yellow and purple bruises only just fading.

"You could have killed them."

"I know," he repeated, still oddly flat for such an emotional creature.

"You did not."

"No."

"It was the right thing to do. Not to kill your attackers." Odin seemed to be elaborating now, starting to show just some of the perplexity that Darcy was feeling.

"I know."

"You have changed."

His voice was like dripping venom in his reply. "Oh? I know. Understanding my errors is weighted with a guilt almost not worth living with."

On the 'almost', his eyes flicked to the side of Odin Darcy stood on without quite landing on her. What? What did that mean?

"I understand this is my own mistake, and I have to live with it if I am to live at all. But I am not the only one who has changed, am I correct?"

The smile dancing around Odin's face dropped instantly, and he took a step back.

"I love you, Loki, and I want you back, so think very carefully about what you accuse me of."

"I cannot accuse you of a thing, and I am so very glad to be back - but that's not all you want me back for, is it?"

Frigga stared at Odin, looking shocking, but Thor's eyes were on Loki, looking eager for him to continue. Darcy jumped a little when Jane was at her side. She murmured, "Your hands are freezing."

Surprisingly, Odin's gaze dropped, and he said nothing for a moment.

"What is it?" Frigga questioned her husband. So whatever it was, Loki knew, and Thor was clearly the only one beginning to suspect.

"Father?" Thor stared sternly at Odin, standing near his brother. Darcy really didn't feel very well.

"I know you sent me to Midgard in the hope that I might, say, meet one, develop some level of affection for her. And what would that achieve?"

Thor touched Loki's shoulder. "What, Loki? Darcy?"

Darcy froze at the mention of her name.

"Yes, and if I could feel that for just one human, what kind of guilt would lay in my heart for the Jotun and Migardians whose death came at my hand? What if it was more than affection? What kind of defence would she have if an Asgardian spell was working on her?"

Darcy tried to speak, felt Jane grab her hand, but there was a lump in her throat. And he still wasn't looking at her, why wasn't he looking at her?

"What if she made me realise my errors by making her mind available to me? Every human strength and weakness laid bare? Working at me, constantly, and then - then what if I felt that for every life extinguished by my own frailties and insecurities?" Loki was visibly shaking, but did not take his eyes off of his father. His voice was light and icy. "What if I had understood why, and realised the torture and then this empathy - what if they were for my own good?" He panted. "I do understand. What I don't understand is why you would dabble in magic and not think of the consequences."

Darcy was confused - her head spinning. She didn't understand what was so devastating about him being able to read her mind. It was invasive and she was upset to a point but he looked... He looked as though it was life or death.

"Tell them," he croaked. "Tell them what's happening. Tell them about Darcy, tell them about the Frost Giants - tell them!"

Odin's calm visage appeared shaken.

"I had to make you understand, Loki. You could not commit genocide of a people we had peace with and then again endanger our realm and Midgard by letting those monsters from the void in. I had to make you understand."

Loki's teeth were gritted, and he looked everywhere but at her. "Tell them."

He sighed once more, and unexpectedly, turned to Darcy.

"I made the agreement with the Jotun so that my son would fulfil his birth right to be king of Jotunheim and of Midgard. I had to restore our two races now that the breach to Midgard and far vaster worlds had been opened. We needed that alliance."

Darcy blinked, still feeling cold and ill. "I... Yeah, I understand, but... But I'm starting to get really freaked out here. I mean, why are you telling me?"

The eye she could see was kind as Odin stared down at her, grasping her hand in his. "I had to make my son love what he most despised to he would go through with it. He will watch over Jotunheim and Midgard and Asgard, and you."

She frowned. "Um, I'm sorry, I really don't - "

Loki grabbed her wrist unexpectedly gently pulling her back toward the centre of the room, where the glowing blue cube of the Jotun's power sat on its own throne. He pulled her hand toward the light which reflected blue onto her pale skin. The closer her hand got, the colder she felt, and the darker and darker blue glowed onto her hand.

Except it wasn't a glow of light.

Darcy pulled her arm away, but the whole thing was dark blue. "What...?"

A sort of icy horror that she realised with even more dread had nothing to do with her emotions sank into her stomach and she felt so, so ill but could not shiver, and the hands which pulled her sleeves up and tore and her clothes and then at her skin did not even feel cold. The blood flowed red as she clawed and strong hands grabbed her - maybe Thor - as she tried to pull it off. She stared at Loki before blacking out, and his green eyes were glistening, his thin mouth pulled taught and she couldn't speak, so with all her thoughts, Darcy screamed - How long? And how long did you know?

Jane was trying to hit Odin and someone caught her before she hit the floor.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

He was far more skilled in the art of magic than his father, so it wasn't even the greatly angering danger of turning a human into a Jotun that angered him – it was the choice. Loki knew from the layers of her mind that as muddled as some things were, her affection for him was genuine. The extent of his affection was far of that warm, fleshy, human haze of uncertainty. And what of him? Did he really have a choice but to love her now? And how long had he known? Not until it had happened, certainly. But not too much longer than that. Probably just until she had started feeling that feeling which had manifested itself as cold, sick and fear, the one she couldn't have felt until she was in the same realm as the Jotun and their power source. She was an artefact. And now he was invested. Loki needed no more red on his ledger, particularly if it had a face, a sense of humour, an interest in him...

For a full night and day, Darcy had lain unconscious in the most comfortable, least conspicuous room in Asgard Hall, and he hadn't left her since. He had no choice, it was true, and as much bubbling, molten resent he felt for the Allfather, there was a strange sense of being protected, one he felt the need to pass on as he made sure Darcy was warm and cared for. On the hour, a kitchen hand would bring a pitcher of water and cloth for her forehead, ask if she was ready for her meal, then leave.

He had no choice but to leave. This protection… he could see past the anger that it was for his own good, and that his poor decision making had let to this very point in time, but there was still something very bitter about it. Forcing him to feel affection for her now… How could he not see her as somehow spoiled, the way he saw himself? Loki had no idea how, but he didn't. He felt concern, surely, for this hybridisation may yet kill her and they were only barely acquainted. Perhaps this was the point – that he understood when choices were really taken from one's hands. His tongue licked the corners of his slightly parted lips when he realised his own falling tears had slid concave into his mouth.

They tasted salty. They felt right. His chest hurt a little less. He did not want to let go of Darcy, but what other choice did he have? It was a form of protection he could live with. He was a coward for that, but it was the truth. He knew the plan. He had to let them take her back to Midgard, where her blood would not freeze. The fact that she was in this danger made Loki more upset, more upset because there wouldn't be the danger if it weren't for him. He saw what the rest of them saw, too late. He swallowed.

"Brother?"

Loki listened as the door shut behind him with a gentle click, and upon realising that Thor had come alone, he crouched where he was, gently running a thumb over her forehead and hairline. The corners of his mouth twitched in an attempt at some sort of animated façade, then set even more rigidly, his nostrils flaring as two more salty droplets slid over his faintly bruised skin.

"It seems not right." His voice was barely a whisper.

Thor was a few paces behind him. "I know it is not."

"I will take the throne of Jotunheim."

"Have you told father this?"

"How can I guarantee it will change her condition? Once the Jotun are under my command, once their power is in my hands, I may form a peace between our peoples." He closed his eyes, droplets of wet stuck to his black eyelashes. "It will also be my right to stay there for all that I deserve... I will spare you and mother the heartache of absence... But I cannot see Darcy again. You tell father, he will listen to you. You are his son".

"You are his son too, Loki." Thor knelt down beside the bed where Loki crouched. "Your countenance is far more gentle yet far more distraught than I have seen, for you or in all the Nine Realms. Loki."

Loki opened his eyes slowly. Thor made a slight move to grasp his shoulder, but something in that face told him no.

"Your father. How important must I be to him for him to wish me to live out the rest of my days in that frozen waste among monsters, or lest see Darcy Lewis who was irritating and bright and pink and sensitively human as one of them? Was the possibility of her being harmed even entertained?" He swallowed, no more tears falling, his brow furrowing. "You will take her back to Midgard, Thor. I will know my place as son of Laufey..." He sounded bitter, even hate filled.

Thor stood slowly, surveying Loki. "Are you not more concerned with you not laying eyes upon her…?"

Loki's eyes snapped up. "If you hadn't been so recklessly foolish and been sent to Earth, none of this would have happened. You would not pine over precious Jane, and none of this folly would have happened," he spat.

"Well, if we're looking that far back into the past, what about all those ways you try to gain fathers favour, most devastating of all, bringing the Frost Giants to Asgard then being the one to destroy them! If you connect all these things under the guise of destiny then you must see that those pains, those terrible mistakes led you here, to this moment, to do the right thing. Equally, if you are to have learned anything from Miss Lewis, you will know what to be right is the same in either regard. Its what she would have wanted."

"Do not speak about her as though she were dead!" His voice had a slightly higher-pitched, hysterical note.

Thor scowled. "No, but do not deny that you have enjoyed the pleasure of her company, which clearly you did." Loki said nothing. "And that is what is also important."

The tension did not merely disappear from his face, it melted off. His voice was barely a whisper as he drew his hand back, to not take advantage of her being unconscious and unwell, Thor guessed. "Indeed."

The elder brother watched, hating to see Loki so, loving Loki with all his heart, hoping that Darcy would be well, needing to speak with Odin. Surely... surely there was some sort of plan or scheme up his sleeve, surely he had not done this cruel deed of putting Loki's heart out for this fragile, strong, endearingly gorgeous human woman, nor would he hurt a Midgardian for this sort of purpose, if any. But he knew Loki's volatile nature meant that he was likely to act with some manner of insanity... and Thor had never seen a woman his brother had cared about like this, with the particular consideration that he barely knew her. As much as Thor had wanted, pushed for Loki to find an affinity with Darcy, he knew better than to think it was really his own doing at all. Proof then, that his brother's heart had been staked, very much indeed. Once again, he made to give Loki some sort of comfort or gesture, but something else was pulling him to the throne room. The wrongness of it all.

"I am sorry."

Loki didn't look up again. He simply stared at Darcy. Her full lips were parted, showing just the top row of her white, straight teeth. There was a tiny gap in between the two front teeth. An artibrary image came to his mind - thugs, taking out their vigilante justice, just like Doctor Banner's monster, and no one had been there, except her. But they still cared, and that is what she would want him to think. The thought of her not being able to tell him that herself because of this state only worsened his mood."Just leave us be."

Slowly, Thor turned and retreated. The thought tore at him, and so did the fact that he could not escape his feelings. No, not this time. Only in the past. He had learned, for her sake, he had learned. Now he would not wallow, now he would take the action expected of him, and hurt no one else.

No sooner had Thor closed the door behind him, looking not so much concerned as sadly relieved, did the projection of Loki give Darcy's head one last, light brush before disappearing. The real prince of Jotunheim had with him no possessions but a leather and fur travelling cloak and icy wind to appropriately lead him to Jotunheim. Thor would never stop falling for that… but for all his gullibility Thor was kind. He waited, his horses nostrils billowing warm steam by the window, as Jane entered, slightly surprised to see that the room was empty, but glad to tend to her friend alone. Before she could cross paths with Thor and discover his absence, he nudged the steed with his booted heels, loping off down the paths and side streets to the Bifrost to meet Heimdall.

The gentle touch she was very, almost uncomfortably unused to lifted from her head. She could feel her eyes flicker, occasionally her sensory perception would come back like a flickering light, and she knew Loki - the real Loki? - was gone long before Jane was standing over her.

"Ugh... I feel like I drank a whole litre of vodka... like somebody sandpapered my throat."

Darcy lifted herself up slowly, feeling okay, feeling a hell of a lot better. She inspected her pasty, pale forearm, wondering if it could have been a trick of the light after all.

Jane's brow furrowed. "Hey... maybe you should rest more. Are you hungry?"

"No..." She struggled to slide upwards and maybe de-tangle her legs from the bed, and as her eyes adjusted to the light of the room - subdued candles, flickering. Then she noticed she was covered in maybe ten fur throw rugs, hence not being able to move.

"How are you feeling, Darce?" Jane crouched next to her, back in jeans.

"Not that cold actually... Jane, are you sweating?" The room felt completely normal to her... ahh. "So that's what happened... someone made me into one of the Popsicle People. Cool, huh? Get it?"

Her smiled faded. "Jane... Jane you look like I've got cancer or something." Her anxious voice almost made Jane cry - she loved Thor, but how could things be all right if they didn't know what this would do to Darcy. God, she was so young...

She lay herself back down on the pillows, hoping her display of less activity would settle her friend down. "So its pretty bad, huh?"

"I'm not sure. No one's sure."

"And that's why you're worried?" She kept her tone serious, knowing that the jokes would not help if that were in her usual, upbeat cheer. "Because it is bad or because you don't know?"

She sighed, and Darcy nearly laughed as Jane Foster leaned over, hugged her head against her chest.

"Jane," she whined, muffled by Jane's small breasts. Jane laughed, then burst into actual, silent sobs.

Darcy pushed herself away, glad to see they were both smiling. She leant over to have some water from the goblet on the stand next to the plush bed in the cave-like room. "Oh, so this is why the only emotion you show is annoyance, the rest gets bottled up and the gets let out in some kind of turmoil explosion." She swallowed another mouthful, feeling okay, feeling rehydrated. "Awesome."

"Oh honey, you know I like you."

She shrugged, worried herself but still keeping it light. It was nice to know so many people cared... so many people... Her eyebrows furrowed and she groped for her glasses, pushing them onto her nose indelicately. "Hey... where's...?"

Jane sniffled. "Loki?"

"Yeah, he hasn't been back for a long time, right? I mean I sort of felt him leave... hours ago, Jane, what?"

Her friend looked a mite confused. "Hm, no, Thor said he left just now."

Darcy shook her head. "Nah uh, no I know when he left. Everything kinda, well don't tell him or anything, but it kinda got warmer."

Jane clearly made a mental note of it. "Uh huuuuh, right... I'm gonna go talk to Thor. You tell the guards if you need anything. I think I'm gonna get Thor to look for Loki."

"Yeah, okay."

Jane closed the door, and Darcy was thankful to be alone. Why did she get the feeling that they wouldn't find him within the palace walls, or indeed near the city at all. And why did she feel so damn alone? Well, she was alone, but why did she care so much that he wasn't there.

She remembered him being there in the night, stroking her head and murmuring but not quite singing what she guessed was a lullabye. That wasn't what got her, it was that shake of the head, before this whole Frost-Darcy thing had happened... What had he mean't? Loki was attractive, Loki was god-damn sad and someone she would and did love trying to help. But it was more than that. What was it? An ache in her chest because of the possibility that he actually cared, and it was so much more than that, because he was a tough damn shell to crack.

Alone, under all those blankets, Darcy was afraid that what was underneath wasn't strong enough, and maybe she shouldn't have tried.

"Thor, my son... Your brother... He spends so much time being afraid of doing the wrong thing, he loses sight of his heart, his good intentions." A single, manly tear fell from Odin's eye. "He spends too much time cowering and never feeling good enough, and I fear that I made his eyes downcast too often when you both were growing up... So he may never see the pride in mine face."

Thor bit his lip like he had when he was a child, thinking. "Perhaps you favoured me, father, but I loved Loki more than anyone. He is blinded by vast notions of destiny and fears what he truly is, and while I do not look favourably upon what you did to Miss Lewis, I understand that my brother needs this. Something, someone to reflect his own self-hatred into affection."

Closing his eyes, Odin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and placing his chin on his ancient, interwoven fingers.

"Do you think the attachment is romantic?"

"It is hard to say... Loki is not and never has been displeasing to the eyes of maidens, and I would say that Miss Lewis is both suitably attractive and perfectly, refreshingly human for him. But, I cannot make up his mind for him. He has left, for the sake of the young woman, so I suppose that is a sign of some level of noble affection." Thor's brow furrowed. "Will it not then be worse if Loki's heart is broken?"

"I was referring to her."

Thor was momentarily surprised, and he quickly recomposed his face. A bigger surprise was Odin running a hand through his hair, sighing.

"Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps this whole thing can be worked out in a different way." He stood, clearly decided on his course of action, grabbing Thor's shoulder firmly. "Come, let us meet Heimdall at the Bifrost so he can at least tell us if he opened the portal for Loki, even if he cannot see him in Jotunheim."

Thor blinked, gladdened by the Allfather's change of heart, making a mental note to discuss the poor decision-making in the first place later.

"Very well, what must I do?" Ever respectful, ever obedient, but now with a wisdom and intelligence befitting a true leader. "Bring our strongest, your friends... Bring Miss Foster and Miss Lewis. You can protect them, I am sure."

He was sure. He was sure he would get to the bottom of what was had happened. He felt as if he could explain it to Loki, then his brother's intelligence would figure it out.

"Very well."

Thor bowed, he and Odin walking in opposite directions, to prepare for the venture to Jotunheim.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

"But, like, actual Asgard. I really thing some mead or whatever would help loosen- ACH!"

Darcy stopped mid-gesture, slowly lowering her arms, turning a slight shade of pink. There was something vaguely comforting about her horrendously betraying blush, Jane thought, turning her head to see who was at the door. A tall, slender figure with a hourglass curves and, as she stepped into the light, a dagger strapped to her waist. Frigga, Thor's mother. She was smiling, and holding in her arms a dress similar to the one she was holding, slightly tinged with blue, sparkling, adorned with white lace. Both Jane and Darcy stared at the beautiful garment, though neither of them cared too much what they wore back home.

The way Frigga carried herself made Darcy feel even more out of place and embarrassed than she did when meeting Odin.

She inclined her head to Darcy, then to Jane. "This was my wedding dress. I know you probably won't believe me when you look at this face now, but I had a lot of young men chasing me at the time I met my king." All three women laughed. "But back then, he was just Odin, another warrior like all the rest. The only difference, I think was that he treated me the way he would treat his male companions," she grinned, showing a row of perfectly, straight, white teeth, "only with a lot more respect." Frigga's eyes flickered to Jane. "Do you feel that my son sees you in this way?"

Jane blinked at the unexpected question, making it her turn to blush. "Um... I... Yeah, actually. Yes, I couldn't have put it better. I think that Thor... well, none of those things that seem to matter on Earth mattered to him. He was learning everything from a woman, yeah, but it didn't matter to him, because it wasn't that... I was a Midgardian, I knew things, I helped him..."

Jane nodded, eyes slightly glazed, and Darcy felt a sudden pang of... of what? It wasn't envy really, something though. Frigga stroked the soft, beautiful dress. "If the time so comes, it is then yours to wear. 'T'is made from the finest hair of the unicorn... "

"You're shitting me!"

While Jane gulped like a fish in the air, Frigga turned to Darcy, ignorant of her obscenity. "And what of you, sweet one?"

Darcy blinked. "I... um... think its beautiful, but I don't think I'm planning on getting married any time soon."

Frigga laughed. "No... No, tell me your opinion of my youngest, my Loki. For him to be as attached as he is... Well, I wanted to thank you for making his time in Midgard more bearable."

"That's fine, really... To be honest I thought he really didn't like me at all, but I don't know..."

She smiled, almost knowingly, but with a sad look in her eyes. "Mmm. I think knowing himself and knowing you have been to events so interlinked it would be almost impossible to determine which came first, even in this small amount of time. That is the other reason I have for showing you this dress. I was a mud covered huntress, I never wanted to marry, but Odin was expected to be searching for a wife at that time of his life. Thor has found lovely Jane. Loki... I feared there would never be another for him in Asgard. Now that you arrived, I believe there is." She held up a hand to stop Darcy from interjecting, and spoke as though she could read him mind. Maybe that was a hereditary thing. "I do not hold any expectations of you, dear one, for this is your own life. I am his mother, for all his ups and downs, I wish nothing more for his happiness. Loki will come to realise that we are his family, and we will work to make him whole again, none of that is your burden, but you have started a spark." Her voice was far less strong than it had been when it started out. Her eyes were glistening, so Darcy looked away, embarrassed.

"Well... I mean its nice to know you're that important... Um... Jane?" They both looked at her, Jane squeezing her hand. "Maybe... so maybe I should go and tell Horns that he's uh... really interesting and that yeah um... I was nice to him just... well, just because everyone needs someone to just, talk to, or something."

She knew how young she must sound to Frigga, how inelegant to Jane, how flabby and unfit she must seem to Lady Sif... wait?

"Mine lady, Frigga. Mistress Jane, Mistress Darcy," Sif bowed.

Frigga stood, her grey eyes now steely, formal, ready and alert. "Sif, you appear breathless, what is your news?"

Swallowing, trying to breathe through her nose, Sif's eyes travelled from the mortals to her queen. They moved over to the corner and spoke in hushed whispers. Darcy strained her neck, her arms feeling quite cold and goosepimply out of the blankets, yet Jane was back in her singlet. She wanted to mention feeling cold, but until she went blue... Oh what if she actually did turn blue with cold? Or what if... Did Loki feel the cold? She'd brushed against his hand, she knew that he was surprisingly warm, but did he feel cold and it was magic compensating. She wanted to ask him, actually, because she knew as Jane stroked the beautiful dress (another question for Goatunheim - were there really unicorns?) that she was thinking of Thor. As worried as Jane was about Darcy, she would always be the one to slip from her mind. And that was okay. She returned her gaze to Sif, and though they couldn't see Frigga's expression they say her back stiffen, and Sif's face turn from earnest to concerned.

"Jane, hey," Darcy whispered. "What's happening? Where are... Where's Thor?" She omitted Loki's name. Something felt wrong, something about the whole thing just seemed wrong, there was a tension in the air not to do with Loki's family issues or what she could only view as her Frost Poisoning. She shivered, when Jane ignored her, eyes flicking back to Frigga and Sif. "Jane?"

"Shh."

Frigga turned to them, a very out of place concerned look spreading across her noble features.

"Warrior maidens," she announced, and Jane got the dreadful feeling that she meant all of them. "It appears that we are needed."

Being involved, being considered entirely good enough and entirely not young, sick, vulnerable or female, was enough to make Darcy forget that she was all of these things. More than that, obviously, but the scuffling and organisation and painting faces and helping do up leather straps was keeping her from freaking out. Of all the people in Puente Antiguo she'd been with coming back, coming back after it had been rebuilt, she felt weird feeling the closest to its destructor... to a murderer. But now she stood by the throne with Jane as the warriors of Asgard prepared to follow Loki, possibly to encounter hostile forces if he had not yet spoken with them, claimed his birthright. Darcy, standing with a much-too-heavy golden spear, thought it was a bad idea in the first place. Who even let him go? Oh wait... that was her. Aw dammit, why did she care so much?

Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun (whose names it had taken Darcy at least ten minutes to remember, and she felt terrible still not knowing which one was which) did not display worry outwardly, but Sif seemed to be more concerned. At least, she was throwing concerned looks toward Thor...

"Ohhh." Darcy's eyes narrowed in on the situation, flicking from the inseparable Thor and Jane, to Sif, who didn't even notice she was strapping up the wrong boot. Darcy swallowed. So she was certainly feeling some sort of something for that attractive, emotionally screwy jerk, especially since they'd been brought here. Thor bidding his father and mother farewell, them wishing Loki's return to be speedy, the four warriors... Nothing else. Not that she hadn't taken Frigga seriously, but there were no concerned eyes popping out of the crowed, desperately looking out for Loki. It made her feel kind of sad, but she didn't want to pity him. She smiled at the stupid image of her running to him slowly through a corn field or something...

She made her way to the glassless window opening to watch from high on as the portal opened, and her chest swelling anxiously expanding and yet constricting ever so slightly. She might actually be worried about how long she would have to wait... if there were any problems. Little did she know.

"Woah - AAH - oof!"

She hadn't realised that she'd been leaning up against the enormous spear-like staff until its gilded end slipped on the golden floor and she went crashing sideways, glasses askew. Gingerly lifting herself into a sitting position, she grasped from her glasses with splayed fingers, when-

It was exactly like the time she and Zoee had shared the bottle of tequila when they were fifteen. Like her senses had been sucked back into her brain like a feather in a vacuum. But different, she could feel Jane beside her - a second, an hour later? She felt freezing. Scared suddenly, unrelated to being sensually paralysed. Looking around, dark and snow-covered. Everything wrong. An ambush? Where were they. How did they know to hide? Were they expecting him? Asgard - he had to get back - it was a trap to open the portal. Feeling someone, another presence - a threatening presence. What was it? Where? Where? Climbing high - yet on the ground? He paused, near the frost king's throne, he could feel another near - finally a connection with the mortal, with Darcy. But she was Darcy? He quickly recognised her confusion, tried to block his images, but they became more clear. Searching, holding a mere sword, magic dampened, no chance to defend himself if there were many Jotun. He found an antechamber in the end of the rock and ice. Her vision must be overlapping. He sees Odin. No... it can't be, this white-bearded figure is chained to the wall, stripped bare, slowly bleeding to death.

"No!" They both cry, before something smashes into the back of his head. She knows he isn't dead, because she can hear her own scream echo in his head.

"Darcy? Darcy? DARCY?"

Her eyes flickered open. In the throne room, which was nearly white bright in comparison to... was that Jotunheim? She can't speak. She knows that was real, she knows there are two Odin's. She knows which one Loki thinks is real. She gives her best cheesy smile, looking up through her eyelashes. "I hit my head Jane, its fine, you know how clumsy I am at home."

Jane sighed, almost snorting like a bull. "Yes, I do."

Darcy smiled, not looking in Odin's direction, terrified at his proximity to Frigga, wondering how the hell she was going to tell Jane. She had to go and think, and remind herself she wasn't running away. "I-just-need-to-go-splash-some-water-on-my-face-no-Jane-its-fine."

She entered the antechamber, then quickly took the stairwell leading up to the gallery. Surely Heimdall would be back soon?

But the rest of the royal court and best warriors were either in bed asleep, not required for the mission, or with Thor, in Jotunheim. How would she warn them? Was this whole thing a plan to kill half of them here and half of them in Asgard? That's exactly what it looked like.

Stepping softly and looking behind her every two seconds, Darcy eventually made her way to the top of the stairs and was inching her way over to the marble railings on her stomach when there was an enormous BOOM and flash of blue light. There were muffled screams, and tears sprang to her eyes. Edging forward slowly, she was glad it was dark up here. Why had this imposter waited to act until she'd left? Possibly because she didn't pose a threat. Possibly because all she was was a way to weaken Loki, which would of course always weaken Thor... Now were those her own thoughts? Her fear was surely her own. Eyes coming over the top, she saw a tall, dark blue figure circling around Frigga and Jane, who had been magically bound. The sound of the low, guttural voice bounded off of the high ceiling, and she only caught the occasional word, but it didn't make sense. So, he was one of those 'tie 'em up and forget about the one that just escaped while you reveal your master plan' kinda guys. Okay, all right, she could work with that. She just needed to escape and somehow find the other warriors of Asgard in the hope that they would believe her, bring them back here and also make sure Thor, Loki and the real Odin were okay. Yeah, sure. Easy.

She gulped, shrinking back into the shadows when she heard her name.

"THE MORTAL MATTERS NOT, THE POISONOUS HALF BREED WENCH? What shall she do? By the time she acts, we will have slaughtered you and your son. Your husband is already dead."

Darcy listened carefully, not daring to peep over the railings again. Whatever disguise he'd used made him an exact replica of the Allfather. He'd be much bigger, a giant as it were, and she imagined a giant lizard scaling the wall, tearing her throat out. She covered her mouth, trying not to cry and panic when she heard Frigga protest against her bonds, Jane coughing against her own gag.

"I know she's close by, but all you warm blooded smell the same to me. She would know by now that she was a ploy to weaken the second prince of Asgard, the first was already infatuated enough. But he is not the Prince of Jotunheim. That title has and always will belong to me. This Loki, this trickster, this murderer is nothing. Oh, you tremble for your adopted son? Did you weep for my people, my clan, my offspring when your foolish welp - Jotun blood in his own veins - tried to commit genocide?"

He must have struck Frigga then, because Jane screamed against the cloth in her mouth, and Darcy chanced a quick look over the top again. Red eyes flashed in her direction, and flopped to the floor soundlessly, covering her face. There was blood, but the queen was still moving. Maybe she could start running toward the Bifrost, to Heimdall if she could, maybe she could give Thor and Loki some time, but if they hadn't managed to save Odin in time, there's no way they'd be back soon.

How had she gotten here? Not the stairs. She'd been unable to return to Puente Antiguo after it was basically levelled, she'd slept on the floors of some pretty seedy people's floors when Jane had been sent away, Erik had been kidnapped and she'd been forgotten but terrified. They'd wanted her back, she needed to do something with her life, be important, so she'd said yes because there was a job in it somehow at the end, maybe with S.H.I.E.L.D, sure. Whatever. She'd been left out of the Thor and Jane connection, watched in horror on the nightly news, missing her family and laptop and everything that was her while she hid from this monster... then she'd come face to face with him and couldn't hate him, as though he'd hypnotised her. She resented that, she wasn't hypnotised, so was it even worse? Seeing him in this crumpled state, was that worse than those women who sent letters to serial killers in prison back in the day? Probably not. He was just so charismatic, even in a foul storm of his own poisoned insane mind. Tortured. Those vigilantes... those horrified people, praying the monsters wouldn't come back. Sure she was keeping him out of the way, but how dangerous was someone if they could go from being a threat to an ally simply because of such a tiny act of kindness... he craved control, that was ironic.

And then there was Asgard. It was so beautiful and so dangerous and so out of place and then she felt her skin burn cold and claws grow and a vicious need to tear at the warm blooded, a need she'd simply ignored because she stupidly trusted Loki, trusted the trickster and now where was he? He'd fooled her already with illusions, but then... The ankle bracelet. How the hell did he manage to figure out how to turn it off in the short amount of time he'd been left alone with her, unless...

Unless he didn't. Unless Loki had found the secret long ago, but had stayed anyway. Stayed on Earth, stayed to feel his father's wrath, stayed and cooled her fever with his fingertips on her head, and left to save Thor and his family and Jane and her from whatever he'd suspected had been waiting for him for a long time. Not known, but suspected, just like she felt these things through the link the Jotun had created between them since... when? Maybe before she'd even met him. How did they know she'd be there? The swirling thoughts hurt her head, she shrank back, frightened, hearing the muffled sobs from the girls below. She hadn't heard who she guessed was Loki's crazy half brother for a while.

Closing her eyes, she felt like a little kid, praying to Santa or whatever the hell she used to do. It happened before, so maybe she could wish it to happen again. "Please, come back." Darcy mouthed, tears seeping from her tightly shut eyes. "Please come back, please come back, please come back, please come back..."

An icy hand pulled wrapped around her throat.


End file.
